Southern Cross
Chapter 3
"Trevor, take care of Josie for me, I got to do some last minute stuff in the city", said Dallas.
"Sure, Dallas. You don't want to get stopped at customs, take care", said Trevor as Josie got in his truck.
"What kind of stuff he has to do, we got passports", said Josie as she put on her seat belt.
"You can't do something wrong or else Officialdom will get on your ass, it sucks. But look at this way, we're going to San Francisco and going to the Asian art Museum and Fisherman's Wharf later, hope you brought along your camera", he teased as he backed the truck out of the driveway.
Josie nodded as she scanned the stations on Sirius, stopping at the alternative station as it played Last One to Die by Rancid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYW3mVUyUtI&ob=av2e
"Yeah, I want to take loads of pictures to show Miss Peggy. Too bad the A's aren't going to the playoffs", she said sympathetically.
"I know, but the Rangers were too good and they had a nine game lead on us, short of a miracle we would've never won even the Wild Card. And you are a real East Bay girl, Josie, Rancid are awesome", he chuckled.
"I know, the other girls at school like Justin Bieber and Disney crap, Dallas listens to Rancid and stuff like that and I guess I liked it", she shrugged.
"You got good taste, just like your dad. I should know something about messed up taste in music, I just listen to 60's and 70's rock, that was the best era for rock music, I hate modern stuff. We're taking the BART into the city, I don't want to look around for parking in the city, that's going to take forever", he joked.
Trevor drove west on I-880 until they reached the big park and ride lot in downtown Oakland. He parked the truck and paid for the space, buying tickets from a vending machine as they waited for the train. "The museum's got a great new exhibit on samurai, they have a lot of samurai armor and it shows how they lived and about bushido, which is like chivalry. They also got a lot of terrific art and another exhibit on Japanese art and Chinese Ming Dynasty pottery, that sounds good?", he asked as the train approached the station.
"Sure, the samurai were a bit like Vikings, right? But didn't they do the suicide thing?", she asked as they got on the BART train.
"Yeah, it's called seppuku. In Japanese culture, honor is all-important and if a samurai faced dishonor, they'd kill themselves by disembowelment, it was also the preferred method of execution. The Vikings had something similar with the Blood Eagle, that was reserved for the worst sort of criminals. I can't believe you like this stuff", he teased.
"Hey, it's more interesting than cute stuff, Trevor. Besides, Dallas let me see the Chucky movies when I was a baby, I think I'm all right", she laughed.
"You're a little wiseass, Josephine Brady", he teased.
The BART made its way under the bay to San Francisco, stopping underground at the Civic Center. It was a cool Saturday morning with the fog still hanging over the city and a breeze in the air, the sun just coming out now. The area around the Civic Center was nearly empty except for a few shoppers and tourists looking about uncertainly, not dressed appropriately in their shorts and t-shirts. In contrast, both Trevor and Josie wore jeans and t-shirts with black hoodies, Trevor's shirt a Led Zeppelin one with the ZoSo album cover and Josie's a black and white Rancid one with the Out Come the Wolves album cover.
"One adult ticket and she's ten", said Trevor.
"That'll be $17 dollars and she goes in free", said the old lady in the booth as he paid the admission.
Trevor handed her a ticket as they went inside the museum. The museum was not very busy this Saturday morning except for a group of elderly people on a tour and a few groups of children from a local church, the kids all wearing orange t-shirts that read St. Mary's. "Let's see the Samurais first, that's a special exhibition and it's going to be crowded", said Trevor.
The samurai exhibit was empty as the groups hadn't gotten there yet and because of the hour, samurai suits behind glass cases and cards explaining everything. The armor was very heavy and made of iron and steel, underneath chain mail and lacquered steel layers. The iron helmets looked vaguely like Darth Vader's but more menacing, the long swords still sharp enough to do serious damage. Several delicate watercolors portrayed rural Japanese scenes and samurai battles, the delicate watercolors showing both pastel temples and women in silk robes and sakura blossoms along with bloody scenes of battles.
"Samurai armor was stronger than that used in Europe during the Middle Ages, the daimyos were always fighting each other and the emperor, it was chaos. Even the samurai women were pretty tough", said Trevor, looking at one of the cards.
"Wow, all I know about samurai is from Ninja Turtles", said Josie, a blush on her cheeks.
"Aww, don't say that, Josie. That's how I got into samurai, we all got to start somewhere. I saw the third Ninja Turtles movie when it came out and I got the bug, we all start somewhere", said Trevor reassuringly.
The rest of the museum had exhibits from all over Asia, ranging from delicate pastel paintings and black lacquered panels and vases from China and Japan to the bolder, brightly-colored Hindu art of the Indian subcontinent to the elegant Middle-Eastern artwork of Persia and the Islamic caliphates. "Trevor, what's that?", she asked, looking at a painting of the Hindu goddess Kali standing on the slain body of her consort Shiva: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kali_lithograph.jpg
"That's Shiva, the consort of Shiva, the lord of death. Shiva is both the destroyer and creator of life, his consort Kali is the female version. There's a lot of different gods in Hindiusm, many Hindus don't worship all of them. In the Simpsons, Apu has a shrine to Ganesha in his store", he explained.
"The statue of the elephant? What does he do?", she asked.
"Ganesha represents knowledge and removing obstacles, he's one of the most popular Hindu gods", he explained.
"But Trevor, aren't you a Catholic?", she asked.
"Yeah, sort of. But there's good in all religions, heck, even Satanism has its good points, like having a good time and partying and doing your own thing, just look it up. I've been interested in Hinduism and Asian religion since I was a kid, maybe you ought to try yoga and meditation, it's a lot cheaper than a shrink", he laughed.
They finished looking at the exhibits as it was almost one that afternoon. "Let's go to the Wharf and get some lunch, we can watch the sea lions', said Trevor.
"Cool, too bad they don't have that in Australia", she said.
"Don't worry, I'm sure there's cool stuff Down Under too. And we'll take the cable car", said Trevor with a laugh.
The Powell-Hyde cable car stopped nearby as the eager tourists toting cameras got on board, easily recognizable by their flabby bodies clad in shorts and tank tops in spite of the chilly weather. The cable car made its way eastwards to the bay as it climbed hills and stopped to take on ever more tourists, the cars deftly climbing the hills and descending again.
All the tourists got off at Fisherman's Wharf and immediately headed towards the McDonald's, much to the disgust of the locals. "Morons, they can get that anywhere", said Trevor with a shake of his head.
"Let's get Chinese food, and then I want to see the sea lions", said Josie.
"Sure, anything you say, Miss Josephine", he said gallantly.
"Sure, Dallas. You don't want to get stopped at customs, take care", said Trevor as Josie got in his truck.
"What kind of stuff he has to do, we got passports", said Josie as she put on her seat belt.
"You can't do something wrong or else Officialdom will get on your ass, it sucks. But look at this way, we're going to San Francisco and going to the Asian art Museum and Fisherman's Wharf later, hope you brought along your camera", he teased as he backed the truck out of the driveway.
Josie nodded as she scanned the stations on Sirius, stopping at the alternative station as it played Last One to Die by Rancid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYW3mVUyUtI&ob=av2e
"Yeah, I want to take loads of pictures to show Miss Peggy. Too bad the A's aren't going to the playoffs", she said sympathetically.
"I know, but the Rangers were too good and they had a nine game lead on us, short of a miracle we would've never won even the Wild Card. And you are a real East Bay girl, Josie, Rancid are awesome", he chuckled.
"I know, the other girls at school like Justin Bieber and Disney crap, Dallas listens to Rancid and stuff like that and I guess I liked it", she shrugged.
"You got good taste, just like your dad. I should know something about messed up taste in music, I just listen to 60's and 70's rock, that was the best era for rock music, I hate modern stuff. We're taking the BART into the city, I don't want to look around for parking in the city, that's going to take forever", he joked.
Trevor drove west on I-880 until they reached the big park and ride lot in downtown Oakland. He parked the truck and paid for the space, buying tickets from a vending machine as they waited for the train. "The museum's got a great new exhibit on samurai, they have a lot of samurai armor and it shows how they lived and about bushido, which is like chivalry. They also got a lot of terrific art and another exhibit on Japanese art and Chinese Ming Dynasty pottery, that sounds good?", he asked as the train approached the station.
"Sure, the samurai were a bit like Vikings, right? But didn't they do the suicide thing?", she asked as they got on the BART train.
"Yeah, it's called seppuku. In Japanese culture, honor is all-important and if a samurai faced dishonor, they'd kill themselves by disembowelment, it was also the preferred method of execution. The Vikings had something similar with the Blood Eagle, that was reserved for the worst sort of criminals. I can't believe you like this stuff", he teased.
"Hey, it's more interesting than cute stuff, Trevor. Besides, Dallas let me see the Chucky movies when I was a baby, I think I'm all right", she laughed.
"You're a little wiseass, Josephine Brady", he teased.
The BART made its way under the bay to San Francisco, stopping underground at the Civic Center. It was a cool Saturday morning with the fog still hanging over the city and a breeze in the air, the sun just coming out now. The area around the Civic Center was nearly empty except for a few shoppers and tourists looking about uncertainly, not dressed appropriately in their shorts and t-shirts. In contrast, both Trevor and Josie wore jeans and t-shirts with black hoodies, Trevor's shirt a Led Zeppelin one with the ZoSo album cover and Josie's a black and white Rancid one with the Out Come the Wolves album cover.
"One adult ticket and she's ten", said Trevor.
"That'll be $17 dollars and she goes in free", said the old lady in the booth as he paid the admission.
Trevor handed her a ticket as they went inside the museum. The museum was not very busy this Saturday morning except for a group of elderly people on a tour and a few groups of children from a local church, the kids all wearing orange t-shirts that read St. Mary's. "Let's see the Samurais first, that's a special exhibition and it's going to be crowded", said Trevor.
The samurai exhibit was empty as the groups hadn't gotten there yet and because of the hour, samurai suits behind glass cases and cards explaining everything. The armor was very heavy and made of iron and steel, underneath chain mail and lacquered steel layers. The iron helmets looked vaguely like Darth Vader's but more menacing, the long swords still sharp enough to do serious damage. Several delicate watercolors portrayed rural Japanese scenes and samurai battles, the delicate watercolors showing both pastel temples and women in silk robes and sakura blossoms along with bloody scenes of battles.
"Samurai armor was stronger than that used in Europe during the Middle Ages, the daimyos were always fighting each other and the emperor, it was chaos. Even the samurai women were pretty tough", said Trevor, looking at one of the cards.
"Wow, all I know about samurai is from Ninja Turtles", said Josie, a blush on her cheeks.
"Aww, don't say that, Josie. That's how I got into samurai, we all got to start somewhere. I saw the third Ninja Turtles movie when it came out and I got the bug, we all start somewhere", said Trevor reassuringly.
The rest of the museum had exhibits from all over Asia, ranging from delicate pastel paintings and black lacquered panels and vases from China and Japan to the bolder, brightly-colored Hindu art of the Indian subcontinent to the elegant Middle-Eastern artwork of Persia and the Islamic caliphates. "Trevor, what's that?", she asked, looking at a painting of the Hindu goddess Kali standing on the slain body of her consort Shiva: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kali_lithograph.jpg
"That's Shiva, the consort of Shiva, the lord of death. Shiva is both the destroyer and creator of life, his consort Kali is the female version. There's a lot of different gods in Hindiusm, many Hindus don't worship all of them. In the Simpsons, Apu has a shrine to Ganesha in his store", he explained.
"The statue of the elephant? What does he do?", she asked.
"Ganesha represents knowledge and removing obstacles, he's one of the most popular Hindu gods", he explained.
"But Trevor, aren't you a Catholic?", she asked.
"Yeah, sort of. But there's good in all religions, heck, even Satanism has its good points, like having a good time and partying and doing your own thing, just look it up. I've been interested in Hinduism and Asian religion since I was a kid, maybe you ought to try yoga and meditation, it's a lot cheaper than a shrink", he laughed.
They finished looking at the exhibits as it was almost one that afternoon. "Let's go to the Wharf and get some lunch, we can watch the sea lions', said Trevor.
"Cool, too bad they don't have that in Australia", she said.
"Don't worry, I'm sure there's cool stuff Down Under too. And we'll take the cable car", said Trevor with a laugh.
The Powell-Hyde cable car stopped nearby as the eager tourists toting cameras got on board, easily recognizable by their flabby bodies clad in shorts and tank tops in spite of the chilly weather. The cable car made its way eastwards to the bay as it climbed hills and stopped to take on ever more tourists, the cars deftly climbing the hills and descending again.
All the tourists got off at Fisherman's Wharf and immediately headed towards the McDonald's, much to the disgust of the locals. "Morons, they can get that anywhere", said Trevor with a shake of his head.
"Let's get Chinese food, and then I want to see the sea lions", said Josie.
"Sure, anything you say, Miss Josephine", he said gallantly.