California 2010
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Transcript of California 2010
1
This League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The chef, the actor and the cat
2
Why?
I have been there countless times. I know my way around LA
and the San Francisco area better than around Rotterdam or
Brabant. So why go there again?
Well, there is Keith. And Allan and Squirt of course. Keith has
miraculously recovered from 5 months of chemotherapy.
And Allan has been, for the moment not distracted by a wife,
the focal point of Keith’s support group. With Squirt as a
happy friend and Peter plus Megan as loyal assistants.
And of course there are nostalgic reasons. You get those when
you grow older. Daughter Natascha went to Marymount in LA,
mate Stanley has been at Stanford forever, LA has been a trans-
fer point for many of the ‘around the world’ trips we made, LA
airport was convenient for our trips to Costa Rica where I
owned a place. And the conventions of NAVA were often held
in California, that is how it all started. Etc, etc...
And there are: the climate, the beautiful beaches, the deserts,
the mountains and the people. And the golf courses of course.
And places where one can try to jump off mountain tops with a
parachute. And there is the California Clinic for Spinal Injuries
where they treat you when the jump did not go as planned. Ah,
happy memories… And there was Mary. She had translated im-
portant legal documents for Keith. So he invited her for Christ-
mas, and she said yes.
And then there was the alternative:
stay in Holland for WINTER IN EUROPE….
Southern California again Dec 2009 — Jan 2010
3
So we did the
cowardly
thing. Almost
a month of
blue sky and
sunsets in-
stead of snow.
With a flight
endlessly de-
layed because
the day before
someone had
tried to blow
up a plane
bound for De-
troit.
A plane also
starting out of
Amsterdam,
which made
the security
people some-
what para-
noid…
Which took
some time.
The beaches
4
But we got there and found Venice Beach again,
hot enough to go naked. The climate
5
With a guy trying to teach his
dog to drink from a glass.
The people
6
OK, there was some rain. The only rainy day,
literally the ONLY RAINY DAY, was Mike’s
birthday—one day before the end of 2009.
Keith had arranged a match on the beautiful
Calabasas Country Club. We nearly drowned,
but still had dinner afterwards.
7
And a great din-
ner it was, after
all that rain.
With a small
group of people
from all over the
world.
Most of them
happily living
near LA.
GENGHIS COHEN This interesting restaurant,
with two of the Founding
Fathers, Allan and Keith.
8
NETHERLANDS
MEXICO
With lots of the famous No
Name Duck and other
goodies. No time for pic-
tures when the plates were
full.
Mary, the only one with
sufficient command of the
Spanish language to enter-
tain Dona Mama Maria.
United Natios
9
IRAN
USA MEXICO
POLAND
USA
GERMANY
UNITED KINGDOM
10
View from the house
While we were
busy enjoying our
golf, ALLAN
looked after his
house and the
liquor cabinet.
Not an easy task
for a former res-
taurateur, we ad-
mired him for it...
After a week in LA we were invited by Allan to visit
very sunny Palm Springs to play some golf. We
stayed at his house where he could hide hordes of
girlfriends but where he lives alone.
Shy, if you want to believe that...
11
PALM SPRINGS—the colony. Green fairways in the desert.
12
Not quite like Holland in winter, and always mountains in the background.
13
With palm trees up front and snow on the top of the mountains in the back
14
T
A
H
Q
U
I
T
Z
C
R
E
E
K
G
O
L
F
727 WAW The registration number of our
little rental really described
how we felt about this friendly
golf course in Palm Springs
where we played a few times.
15
And when they saw Mary, all
the ducks left the water...
16
After Palm Springs we moved North. A slow start, and in the afternoon we reached the Pacific at Pismo beach. Why not stay
here for a night? This is their own description:
Location. With A Meditteranean Climate And Complex Geography, The Cliffs Is Where Travelers Are Exposed To 315 Days Of
Sunshine Per Year And Many Of The Golden State's Most Rewarding Ocean Views. This Luxury Property Is Perched On A Cliff
150 Feet Above The Pacific, Only One Mile North Of Pismo Beach And 10 Miles From Historic Downtown San Luis Obispo.
Apart from their weird use of capital letters, starting every word, why not stay the night there?
17
Hotel The Cliff—room 509
18
Beautiful sunset indeed, but after two days we really had to get to
Stanford, to meet old pal Stanley. He is a well known anesthesiolo-
gist in his own right, Professor Emeritus at Stanford Medical
Faculty. But the last time we met he foremost was the proud father
of Ben Samuels, winner (with the band She'Koyokh) of the Inter-
national Jewish Music Festival 2008 -- in Amsterdam.
A lot of good things happen in Amsterdam..!
19
Somehow, maybe because of all the
wine, Stan’s nice and certainly not shy
wife Leslie managed to escaped the
camera.
We’ll have to come back to Stanford to
rectify that.
Until then, last year’s memories from
the restaurant and old brown bar in the
Red Light district of Amsterdam will
have to do.
In a local restaurant in Palo Alto
20
The next morning, after a brief visit to the breakfast counter and an even shorter visit to our
local bank we drove to Monterey to do the 17 mile drive. This is a must in the area.
It clearly shows what can be done in splendid isolation with an unholy amount of money.
Beautiful, interesting but on this trip somewhat colder than LA and Palm Springs. But we
bravely soldiered on.
Deer in your back garden
21
We also undertook this
trip North to buy Am-
sterdamse pickled on-
ions (Amsterdamse
uitjes), as a result of a
solemn promise made
months before.
Because of the ‘Boston
Bomber’ we could not
bring them from Hol-
land. So we finally got
them in San Jose... Of course, there are golf courses on 17 mile drive.
22
On the same 17 mile drive, on the beach road to Pebble Beach Country
club, are the seals and their unholy stench. Hard to understand why these
gracious animals have such awful body odor.
23
Right as we saw it, left as in
the promotional pictures.
But either way: beautiful!
Here you stand...
to hit to here. Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Ranked number
eleven on "America's 100 Greatest Public
Courses" list by Golf Digest for 2009/2010.
24
Leaving Carmel the weather turned nasty. Not cold, no rain, but regretfully
zero visibility. I love this road, but on this day there was nothing to be seen...
25
The road runs below this cliff, along the beach. There the view was ‘pie
soup”, so we had to navigate ‘blind’. More than five hours for about 100
miles. A pity, but I have done this road before—and maybe next time again.
26
But in Pismo Beach the
next morning everything
was bright and shiny
again. We decided to
stay for the night in
Pismo, because we liked
it so much going North.
A room at the Cliff,
breakfast at Spyglass
Inn, worn but friendly
and again: the view.
27
And while we were in Pismo, granddaughter Floortje had
her birthday. In very cold Bussum friends and relatives cele-
brated, with a song, the 8th anniversary of the happy day
she was born.
We could only send her a photo and a promise for a present.
Kus Floortje!
28
And while Floortje Femer had her birthday with her friends,
we continued South. And met some ‘children’ of the kind
Mary likes...
29
Northern elephant seals are found in the coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of Alaska
down to Baja California. Foraging migrations by males and females are made separately, two times
yearly. Males journey north to the Aleutian Islands and the Gulf of Alaska. Females don't travel as far
north, but instead migrate further west to more open ocean. The total linear distances migrated by
these animals each year has been recorded at 21,000 km. Seals can be seen on shore most often from
December through March. See:
(http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Mirounga_angustirostris.html)
30
Silly name:
Mirounga an-
gustirostris —
Northern ele-
phant seal, but
fierce animals
they are.
This one got the
idea that some
young upstarts
were getting
way too close to
his herd and he
told them!
I also think that he may also have commented on Mary’s fash-
ion savvy.
Bright yellow on his black beach... I ask you!
31
Everybody ran for his life when SealBoss got upset,
Well running? It is a hasty shuffle, mainly sliding on their fat belly.
But they made very sure to get out of his way. He might just trample
over and kill you. He must have really earned his battle scars.
32
Keith and his ‘dirty old man’ act. Did
not need much rehearsing, he said.
And so we got back to Woodland Hills.
Where Keith, Allan, Peter, Megan, Squirt
and Maddy still happily live together.
Soon to be joined by Oscar..!
33
Because Lord Greystoke loves to argue...
...it sometimes is easier to give him two shirts, and let him argue with himself.
That I believe is intelligent design!
34
But we kept playing golf till the end.
Balboa/Encino—a lovely public course.
Where Greystoke beat us all, shot 79 in
his old age. Not cricket however, you
are supposed to let your guests win..!
35
Greenfees for most of us under 20 euro per round, that
puts most European courses to shame. With added
wildlife: a coyote trying to catch a squirrel.
36
And that was it. Last day before the flight home. No pictures of the farewell dinner. Freezing temperatures at Schiphol Airport Amsterdam.
It was a great trip: thanks everyone. See you soon again,
Europe next time? How about South Africa? We’ll talk...