THREE STORIES FROM THE NEWS

By Debbie Bulloch




With the crunch of the holidays now safely behind, including my child’s return to college after a wonderful three-week visit, I can return to one of the things that I love he most – writing for this blog. For today’s edition, I will review three stories from the past two weeks.

ELEPHANT vs. TOURIST

First, there is the story of the mother and her young daughter who were killed by a wild elephant in Kenya. On Monday, January 4, a small group of tourists, and their unarmed African guide, was walking on the trails just outside Mount Kenya National Park. While rounding a turn, the group unexpectedly came up a wild elephant.
The elephant, a female who was apparently attempting to protect her calf, charged at the tourists. The victim, 39-year-old Sharon Brown, and her 1-year-old daughter Margaux were unable to evade the charging elephant. Ms. Brown and Margaux were gored and then trampled by the elephant.

Walking tours of Kenya's many national parks are common. Hikers, however, are advised to have an armed guard with them if the park is known to have elephants. Deaths by charging elephants are rare in Kenya, though they happen about once a year.

This tragic incident could have been avoided. Many businesses in Africa (and in other “wild” locations throughout the world) are only too happy to lure tourists with the promise of a “first hand” look at wildlife. With increase tourist traffic, however, comes the risk of accidents, including death. In the majority of humans vs. wildlife encounters, wildlife usually ends up on the wrong end of a gun. This inevitably results in the death of a rare or endangered species – and for what? For a tourist to get a little bit closer to wildlife? For a tour operator to make a few extra dollars? For a hotel-resort to lure in more high-paying customers?

In my opinion, tourists have no business going into known wild life habitats. Wild animals face ever-greater threats due to ever-growing encroachment by humans. In many parts of California (where I live), there are almost weekly stories of black bears, coyotes and mountain lions being killed by game wardens. These animals are killed when they wander into housing tracts that were once part of their habitat. It is bad enough that animals end up dead when they lose their habitats to human development – they should not also have to suffer when tourists go trampling in the little land that remains for their use.

I am deeply saddened by the death of Ms. Brown and her daughter Margaux. Ms. Brown died doing exactly what the mother elephant was doing – protecting her offspring. Nevertheless, the elephant is not responsible for the death of Ms. and her daughter. The tourist resorts, the tour guides and the national governments are to be blamed for these needless deaths. They should have done a better job of protecting Ms. Brown and Margaux by protecting wild animals from human encroachment.

JAPANESE WHALERS vs. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

In the most violent clash, yet between the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd and Japanese whalers, a whaling ship deliberately rammed a Sea Shepherd’s boat and tore its bow off.

Sea Shepherd leader, Captain Paul Watson (a Canuck – GO CANADA!) said that the anti-whaling boat, the Ady Gil, has been left stricken in the Antarctic.

No one was hurt in the incident. Another anti-whaling ship, the Bob Barker, which had joined in the anti-whaling operation, rescued five of the six crew.

According to Captain Watson, "There is no question the Japanese deliberately rammed the Ady Gil to destroy it.” Captain Watson also stated that, "They've (the Japanese) certainly escalated their aggression and hostility this year."

Capt Watson claimed the Ady Gil and the Bob Barker had stopped in waters near Commonwealth Bay when the Shonan Maru, a vessel providing security to the Japanese fleet, suddenly rammed it.

Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research has released a statement saying that the Ady Gil attacked the Japanese vessel.

Australian Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett has called on both sides to exercise restraint.

“Safety at sea is an absolute priority in this dangerous and inhospitable ocean area and it’s the safety of all concerned that is the utmost priority,” he said.

I have previously reported on the cruel practice, by Japanese fishermen, of luring dolphins into a small cove and then clubbing them to death. While the Japanese certainly do not have a monopoly on the field of animal cruelty (just look at what we Americans did to the buffalo and to the wolves), their government appears to be engaged on a deliberate campaign of ignoring international law when it comes to hunting down cetaceans.

Cetaceans, whales and dolphins in particular, are magnificent, intelligent animals. They have repeatedly demonstrated an uncanny ability to engage in complex behaviour. We cannot stand idly by as their numbers continue to be decimated by unscrupulous whalers and fishermen.

I strongly urge all of you to go and visit the Sea Shepherd’s website and learn about all the ways that you can help them in their efforts to save the whales.

Click here to visit their website: SEA SHEPHERD


AUTOMOBILE DRIVER vs. BIKE RIDERS

A doctor recently convicted of assaulting two bicyclists by slamming on his car brakes after a confrontation on a narrow Brentwood (Beverly Hills, California) road was recently sentenced to serve five years in prison.

Christopher Thompson, wearing dark blue jail scrubs, wept as he apologized to the injured cyclists shortly before he was sentenced.

"I would like to apologize deeply, profoundly from the bottom of my heart," he told them, his right hand cuffed to a court chair.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Scott T. Millington called the case a "wake-up call" to motorists and cyclists and urged local government to provide riders with more bike lanes. He said he believed that Thompson had shown a lack of remorse during the case and that the victims were particularly vulnerable while riding their bicycles.

The case against Thompson, 60, has drawn close scrutiny from bicycle riders around the country, many of whom viewed the outcome as a test of the justice system's commitment to protecting cyclists.

The July 4, 2008, crash also highlighted simmering tensions between cyclists and residents along Mandeville Canyon Road, the winding five-mile residential street where the crash took place.

One cyclist was flung face-first into the rear window of Thompson's red Infiniti, breaking his front teeth and nose and cutting his face. The other cyclist slammed into the sidewalk and suffered a separated shoulder.

At his sentencing hearing at the county's airport branch court, Thompson cited the Bible in urging cyclists and residents of Mandeville Canyon to try to resolve their differences peacefully.

"If my incident shows anything it's that confrontation leads to an escalation of hostilities," Thompson said.

Thompson, a former emergency room physician who described the crash as a terrible accident, testified during his trial last year that he and other Mandeville Canyon residents were upset that some cyclists rode dangerously and acted disrespectfully toward residents and motorists along the street, a popular route for bike riders.
The cyclists testified that the doctor was acting aggressively from the start. They said he honked loudly from behind them and passed by dangerously close as they moved to ride single file before he pulled in front and braked hard.

A police officer told jurors that shortly after the crash that Thompson said he slammed on his brakes in front of the riders to "teach them a lesson."

Prosecutors said Thompson had a history of run-ins with bike riders, including a similar episode four months before the crash when two cyclists told police that the doctor tried to run them off the road and braked suddenly in front of them. Neither of the riders was injured.

The verdict, and sentencing in the case of Dr. Thompson, marks a welcome turn around on the attitudes of law enforcement and the legal system. In the past, cyclists were viewed more as a nuisance – a bunch of hippies, or weekend-warriors, clogging the streets of cities. Now, however, the case of Dr. Thompson sends out a clear message that drivers cannot longer act with impunity when it comes to bike riders.

The United States, unlike many European countries, does not have a long tradition of riders using their bikes to commute or run errands. In spite of the fact that the greatest bike rider in recent history, Lance Armstrong, is an American, bike riding in the USA remains somewhat of a novelty.

That is changing, however. A new generation of Americans is discovering the benefits of bike riding, not just as a sport, but also as a way of life. Asides from the obvious health benefits of regularly riding a bike, there are other benefits as well including a reduced carbon footprint and more money in one’s pocket resulting from saving money on petrol, car payments and car insurance.

In more cities across the USA, bike riders are beginning to take to the road and make a real impact on the transportation scene. We still have a long way to go, however. As you all know, I ride a bike on a regular basis. On almost every ride, I come across rude, inconsiderate, aggressive drivers who think that only they have the right to use the roads. It is our job as cyclists to educate them.

Perhaps the fate of Doctor Thompson will send a message to all drivers and teach them that we must all learn to share the road or face the consequences.

THE DOLPHIN KILLING FIELDS

By Debbie Bulloch



Many years ago, when I was little, my parents took me to a local marine park. A highlight of the trip was watching the dolphins’ performance. I excitedly watched as these beautiful animals performed amazing tricks on command from their trainer. I was captivated by the dolphins’ power, grace and intelligence.

This was the greatest show I had ever witnessed and the memories of that afternoon would not soon leave my imagination.




Click on images for a larger view.



Years later, I returned to SeaWorld with my own child. I wanted her imagination to be fired up, just as mine had, by the sight of these wonderful animals. The show that my daughter and I witnessed that day was pretty much the same show that I had seen years earlier as a child. The dolphins still swam at breakneck speed as they raced around their tank; they still jumped high in the air to catch objects tossed by their handlers. Just like when I was a child, the sight of the powerful and graceful dolphins captivated both my daughter and me. By the time that the show ended, I was certain that the dolphins had left the same indelible mark in her young mind as they had left in mine.

Then something completely unexpected happened.

As we left the show arena, we walked past a large tank where dolphins, who were not performers in the show, were kept. Park visitors were allowed to feed and pet the dolphins in the tank.

My daughter asked for money to buy dolphin “treats” (a small plastic bucket filled with mackerel) so she could feed and pet the dolphins in the tank. I gladly gave her the money and then watched ,with parental pride, as my child bravely walked up to the tank’s edge, reached in and began to feed and pet the dolphins who like hungry puppies, came to the side of the tank. After emptying the little bucket, my daughter came back to me and with a sad look on her bright eyes asked to go home.

I was confused by her reaction. Instead of seeing a gleeful, happy child face, my daughter looked sad and crestfallen. I held her small hand and together we walked out the park. As we neared the exit, I asked her if she was OK, and she said she was. I knew that things were not OK, but I also knew better than to press the issue. So we got into the car and headed home.

That night, over dinner, my daughter asked me why the dolphins were unhappy. Her question surprised me. To me, and to most casual observers, the dolphins performing at Sea World (and other marine park) seemed happy, well kept and generously rewarded for performing behaviors that come naturally to them in the wild.



I asked my daughter to explain what she meant. She told me that while she was feeding and petting the dolphins, an “old” dolphin (I have no idea how she knew it was an “old” dolphin) came up to her and after taking a nibble from the mackerel that my daughter offered him, he “told” her that he hated being made to perform. She went to say that the “old” dolphin told her that he was tired of being kept in that small tank and that he, and his pod mates, wanted to go back to live in the in the ocean, less than a kilometer away from their enclosure.

I did not know what to do or say. I’ve always known that my daughter has a very vivid imagination. So I was pretty sure that this whole dolphin “conversation” was just a “story” that she had made up.

On the other hand, however, I have always known my child to be bright and very sensitive to the environment around her. There had to be more to this dolphin story that the mere imaginings of a child. I could still remember the sad look on her face as she walked away from the dolphin enclosure. So I became convinced that something more than a child’s imagination at play had occurred while she fed and petted the dolphins.

I asked her if the dolphin had actually “talked” to her. She smiled and said, “Don’t be silly mom, dolphins can’t talk.” So I asked her just how she knew that the dolphin was sad and tired of being kept in that tank.

“He told me with his eyes Mom.” Then she added, “And I felt it when I touched him.”

That is when I had my “Aha!” moment.

Many years earlier, when I was a little girl, my parents took me to see the circus. Before the show began, circus visitors were allowed to walk back to the area where the circus’ animals were kept. I was scared of the bears and lions, so I did not get too close to their cages. I loved the horses and I got close enough to touch them and feed them hay. But when I approached the elephants, I began to cry and asked my dad to take me home.

He assumed that the big elephants were too scary for me. I told him that I was not scared of the elephants. Then my dad asked me what the problem was. I told him, “the elephants are sad and they don’t want to be kept in chains.” My dad was taken aback by my answer. He still thought that I was making up an excuse for being scared. But I told him again, “The elephants are sad and they want to go back home.”

“Young lady,” my dad sternly asked in his heavily accented voice, “Just how do you know that the elephants are sad and want to go back home.”

“I saw it in the ‘mommy’ elephant’s eyes,” I said to my Dad, “she told me with her eyes.”

DUMBO AND HIS MOMMY



Flash forward a few dozen years.

I am fortunate enough to live close to the ocean. Many of my regular bike rides include long stretches of California’s Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). During those rides (and during other trips to the beach) I have had the opportunity to observe dolphins swimming just beyond the surf line. Sometimes a whole pod, made up of a few adults and a bunch of “kids” get close enough to the local surfers. It is an awesome sight to watch these curious and intelligent creatures out on their own element. They chase each other, they ride the waves and sometimes they even get amorous with one another.



I have posted many photos in this blog showing depicting the “Malibu” dolphins at play. Life in the “real world” can be rough and far from idyllic for the dolphins and the other creatures who live in the wild. (Over the years, I have seen a few dolphin carcasses wash ashore. These carcasses often bear witness to a deadly encounter with a bigger animal or with the propellers of a boat.) But thinking back to my daughter’s encounter with the sad SeaWorld dolphin, I am convinced that life out on the open ocean has to be infinitely better than life in captivity.



This brings me (finally some of you may say) to the point of this article. There is a town in Japan where every year a handful of Japanese hunters pursue, trap and then mercilessly club to death hundreds of dolphins – the very brothers and sisters of the dolphins who swim right off PCH.

Dolphin hunting season arrives every October, like clockwork, to a sleepy harbor town in Japan. The town of Taiji is located at the tip of the Kii peninsula, south of Kyoto. By the end of March, six months later, more than 3,000 small whales and striped, bottlenose and spotted dolphins have been slaughtered for meat that ends up on the tables of local homes and restaurants and in vacuum-packed bags in supermarkets. According to environmentalists, this is probably the single, largest annual cull of cetaceans – about 26,000 year-round around coastal Japan - in the world.

Taiji is located approximately six hours from Tokyo and is accessible only via a coastal road that snakes through tunnels that cut through dense, pine-carpeted mountains. For years, Taiji escaped the prying eyes of animal rights activists. That “blissful” isolation, however, has been abruptly ended by the Internet.

The dolphin hunts are notoriously brutal. Local dolphin hunters erect blue tarpaulin sheets to block the main viewing spots overlooking the cove where the killings take place to prevent picture taking. The hunt starts just outside the cove, where a small fleet of hunting boats surrounds a pod of migrating dolphins. The hunters then lower metal poles into the sea and bang them to frighten the animals and to disrupt their sonar. Once the panicking, thrashing dolphins are herded into the narrow cove, the hunters attack them with knives, turning the sea bloody red before dragging the wounded and dying animals to a harbor-side warehouse where the surviving dolphins are slaughtered.

WARNING: These are extremely graphic and gruesome video clips. Do not play them if you are disturbed by images of violence, especially violence against defenseless animals.







A few dolphins are spared the club and the knife. These “lucky” ones are sold to marine parks all over the world. A live dolphin can command prices of over $150,000.00 per dolphin.

Fueled by gruesome videos of the dolphin kill posted on YouTube, tensions between animal-right protesters and the local Taiji dolphin hunters have grown. The best known of these protesters is Ric O’Barry. O’Barry once trained dolphins for the 1960’s TV series ‘Flipper.’ He has now, however, joined the fight against the dolphin hunt. In fact, Rick now encourages people to boycott marine parks featuring captive dolphins. (More about that later.)

O’ Barry is one of the world’s best-known environmentalists. A former US Navy diver, he later trained the five dolphins that played ‘Flipper’ in the hit 1960’s TV series. In 1970, O’Barry turned against dolphin captivity. He has spent his life since as an animal rights campaigner fighting what he calls the ‘secret genocide’ of dolphins by the dolphin hunters from Taiji.

Clip from the documentary, THE COVE, produced by Mr. O’Barry’s foundation. The documentary is out on limited release.



In an interviewed conducted by David McNeill, a writer for the London Independent and other publications, O’Barry was asked why he opposes the use of captive dolphins. This is what O’Barry had to say:

“I captured about 100 dolphins myself, back in the 1960s, including the five that played Flipper. I was the highest-paid animal trainer in the world. If I wanted I could set up one of these dolphin training programs and make 3-4 million dollars a year.”

O’Barry went on. “I changed when Flipper died in my arms from suicide. I use that word with some trepidation but I don’t know another word that describes self-induced asphyxiation. Dolphins and other whales are not automatic breathers. Every breath that they take is a conscious effort, which is why they don’t sleep. If life becomes miserable, they just don’t take the next breath. Flipper looked me in the eye and stopped breathing.”



He then concluded by stating. “In those days I was as ignorant as I could be. Now I am against captivity. It has no socially redeeming feature. It is not educational. How come I can’t find one person among the millions who have visited the 50 dolphin facilities in Japan who is against this industry? I organize a worldwide protest outside consulates every year and the only city where I can’t get a protest going is Tokyo. So what is the value of having dolphins on display if it doesn’t sensitize people? It is just casual amusement. It is a form of bad education that serves to perpetuate our utilitarian relationship with nature.

“Flipper was the best and the worst thing that ever happened to dolphins. It exposed the world to dolphins but it also created these captors and the desire to hug them and kiss them and love them to death. Dolphins hate captivity. You’ll see them in the Taiji Whale Museum with their head lying up against the tank, saying ‘how do I get out of here.’ Do I feel responsibility? I have trouble sometimes sleeping at night. Guilt is not too strong a word. I’m not motivated by guilt, although I used to be. Now this is who I am: I eat, sleep and live this life and won’t stop this campaigning until I draw my last breath.”

Posted at Japan Focus on January 2, 2007.

O’Barry’s statements to Mr. McNeill brought back the words that my own daughter had so eloquently spoken when she was just a little girl: “The dolphins hate to be kept prisoners and they want out.”

O’Barry’s words also confirmed, as if I needed confirmation, what I had seen and felt that day in the circus, when I looked into the elephant’s deep, dark eyes: “We hate being here, we hate being in chains.”

O’Barry created and maintains a website from where he advocates on behalf of the dolphin and against the hunting of these creatures.

For more information about O’Barry’s work and you can do to help end the needless and cruel dolphin hunt, please click here:

Save Japan Dolphins

O’Barry website offers suggestions for things that we can all do to help the fight. We can sign an electronic petition to go to President Barack Obama and to the Japanese government. We can sign petitions to go to the worldwide head of marine-park operations. We can boycott marine parks offering dolphin and whale shows. We can donate money (if you wish). We can help spread the message to others who may not be aware of man’s inhumanity towards the dolphin.

We can do many things as a community. SecondLife bills itself as the largest interactive community in the world. That means that our message can effectively reach vast audiences in SL and outside SL. We have the power to better the lives of animals, including the wolf and the dolphin.

To paraphrase the words of the famous Irish writer and philosopher George Bernard Shaw (later quoted in a speech by the late Robert F. Kennedy).

Some men see things as they are and ask, WHY?

I dream of things that have never been and ask, WHY NOT?

This is our “why not?” moment. Don’t let it slip by.

Click the links below for suggestions on things to do:

Send a message to President Obama and Vice-president Biden:

Petition the U.S. President

Pledge not to go and see dolphins in captivity:

Boycott dolphins in captivity

Donate money to help the fight to end the destruction of dolphins:

Donate money to the cause

Petition for an end to captive dolphin shows:

Help end dolphin captivity

Go and see THE COVE (or buy the DVD):

Go see THE COVE

EDITOR’S NOTE: Nothing written in this article is meant to, either explicitly or impliedly, foment hatred or prejudice against the Japanese people. It is my opinion, an opinion shared by others, including Mr. O’Barry, that education of the Japanese people on this issue (rather than condemnation) will in the end be more effective.

SUNDAY PHOTO HISTORY CORNER

By Debbie Bulloch



The December 7, 1941, attack by Japan on America’s Pearl Harbor threw the entire country into a war frenzy and it led to the U.S. declaring war on Japan and Germany. The effects of the Japanese attack were especially felt on the West Coast, from Washington to California. Reports of sighting of Japanese vessels became as commonplace as reports of UFO sightings.

On February 1942, Californian’s worst fears were realized when the Imperial Japanese Navy's submarine I-17, under the command of Commander Nishino Kozo, surfaced and shelled the ellwood oil refinery near Santa Barbara. Before the war, as skipper of an oil tanker, Nishino had refueled there. The shelling did only minor damage to a pier and to an oil well derrick. The attack, however, managed to fuel "invasion" fears along the West Coast.

Contemporary newspaper accounts reported the attack on the Ellwood oil fields, approximately 12 miles north of Santa Barbara. The papers reported that 16 shells fired, beginning at 7:15 p.m. on February 23, 1942. Three shells struck near the Bankline Co. oil refinery - the apparent target of the shelling. Rigging and pumping equipment at a well about 1,000 yards inland were destroyed but otherwise no damage was caused. One shell overshot the target by three miles and landed on the Tecolote ranch, where it exploded. Another landed on the nearby Staniff ranch, dug a hole five feet deep, but failed to explode. Eleven other shells fell short and dropped into the sea.

The first report of the attack was called in to police by Mrs. George Heaney of San Marcos Pass, who observed the submarine through binoculars and reported it was about a mile offshore. Oil refinery worker Bob Miller also called in a report during the attack. According to the official report of the 11th Naval District, the I-17 surfaced at 7:10 pm, Pacific War Time (2 hours ahead of standard time, so about a half hour after sunset), shortly after President Roosevelt's weekly fireside "chat" began. At 7:15 pm, the submarine began firing from its deck gun at the oil refinery and ceased firing at 7:35 p.m. At 8:30 p.m. it was observed, still on the surface, exiting the south end of the Santa Barbara Channel.

The attack threw the entire West Coast into a state of heightened alert. After the attack American coastal defenses were improved. The mainland suffered only one more submarine attack by the Japanese during the war, at Fort Stevens in Oregon.

I ride my bike along the trails around Emma Wood Beach, in Ventura County. On a recent ride I got off the trail and walked my bike on the sand across the mouth of the Ventura River. It was low tide and the mouth was passable on foot. While heading North (technically West at that point) I came across what looked like some strange, round rock structures. The structures were too round to have been the work of Nature. I did not have my camera with me (a rare event because I almost always have my camera with me when I go bike riding) so I was not able to photographs these unusual structures.

When I returned home, I did a little research and this is what I found:

Immediately after the Japanese attack on the Ellwood oil fields, the 2nd Battalion of the 144th Field Artillery (California National Guard) was rushed from Fort McArthur near Los Angeles to set up artillery batteries along the Santa Barbara coast. One such battery was established near the mouth of the Ventura River where two 155 mm cannons were hastily set up on the beach. Fearing another attack on oil production targets, the National Guard chose this location because Ventura’s rich oil fields were located just up the Ventura River. In what had been a nearby city park, soldiers set up a small tent camp in the camouflage and shelter of a grove of cypress trees. They positioned a mobile searchlight to illuminate targets at sea, and prepared for the worst.

These two photographs, which I took in an earlier outing, show what is left of the road leading to the gun battery's location. Due to the constant pounding of the surf, the road is almost gone now. Portions of the seawall, however, can still be seen.





Here is a map of the area. The gun batteries are to the West of the Ventura River. (Click on the image for a full-sized map.



These are photographs of the railroad bridge that crosses the Ventura River. The bridge can be seen on the map above. The line marked "levee" is where part of the bike trail runs. The gun battery is located near the surf, to the right of the first photograph.





I plan to return and take photographs of this historical site. In the meantime here are some photographs of the location taken by Ventura photographer Don. You can see Don’s entire photo gallery at Don’s Guns of Ventura Gallery

As a footnote, the Japanese attack on the Ellwood Oil Fields was immortalized (or lampooned) in Steven Spielberg’s ”1941” a comedy featuring comic talents Dan Akroyd and John Belushi, as well as Japanese super star Toshiro Mifune. In the movie, panic grips California following the attack on Pearl Harbor and people are suffering from war nerves. An Army Air Corps Captain, a civilian with a deranged sense of nationalism, civilian defenders, and a motor pool crew all end up on the trail of a lost Japanese submarine that has picked Hollywood as its own target.

In one of the movie’s funniest exchange, two Japanese submariners have stolen a large radio from an American beach home. As they both struggle to get the large radio down the submarine’s hatch, one of the Japanese sailors, named Mr. Sony, looks at the other sailor and exclaims:

“When we get back to Japan, I must find a way to make these (the radio) smaller!”

Ventura's beaches are not just a place for abandoned gun batteries. Our beaches are also a place for weddings, for lady bugs and even for squirrels.







Enjoy!

TUESDAY MORNING POETRY

By Debbie Bulloch



IN YOUR ARMS

In your arms,
I find strength.
In your arms,
I lose myself.

In your arms,
I breathe again.
In your arms,
I know no boundaries.

In your arms,
I am a child.
In your arms,
I am free.

In your arms,
Time stands still.
In your arms,
Mysteries are revealed.

In your arms,
I feel the heat.
In your arms,
I am complete.

In your arms,
The past, the present, the future
Are one.

Hold me,
In your arms.

03.10.2009

Copyright © 2009 DB. All rights fully reserved.


This photograph was published by LIFE magazine. It was taken on August 14, 1945, at a Times Square (New York) celebration of the Victory over Japan in World War II. The picture says it all, doesn't?

Officer Profile: Yucca Gemini

By Debbie Bulloch:



Between Homes is a collaborative, team effort. It takes the work, dedication and generosity of many individuals to make a project like BH succeed. Today I will introduce you to one of those hardworking, dedicated persons; BH Officer Yucca Gemini.



Yucca is BH’s Master Builder and Architect. Every building, every design feature, every tree and even every blade of grass at BH were put there by Yucca. Many of you have probably already met Yucca. Odds are that when you first meet Yucca she is probably busy putting up buildings, terraforming or creating a new water feature. When Yucca is busy working she may not even notice that you are there; that is how much she concentrates on getting her creations just right. In past occasions I have stood right next to Yucca talking to her and receiving no reply, only to realize that she was not ignoring me, she was just building!

I first met Yucca when I was a relative newbie at SL. I wanted some custom work done on a house—stairs removed, floor and doors added. I previously had a bad experience with a builder who had charged me an arm and a leg to remove a wall and add a door. So when I asked Yucca how much the work would cost I was prepared to be price-shocked. I was price-shocked, but in a very, very nice way. The price that Yucca quoted me was way below what I had expected to pay based upon my previous experience. Anyone can give a low price-quote, the real question is: how well can they do the job and how quickly can they do it.

In these two areas Yucca’s performance exceeded even my wildest expectations. The work was done fast, the work was done to the highest standards and the price was right. On top of all of that, Yucca turned out to be a delightful person to work with. I couldn’t be happier with Yucca and with her work. After all the work was done I turned Yucca and, to paraphrase the lines spoken by Rick Blaine to Capt. Louis Renault at the end of Casablanca I said to her: Yucca, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And in every possible aspect it has been a beautiful friendship.

A few weeks later, when I began selling houses at ABC Homes, Yucca’s houses, including the Japan House, the Celtic Manor and the Swiss Chalet, were among the best selling models. Week in and week out, customers kept snapping up the houses that Yucca built. Yucca’s houses are not only beautifully detailed (the Japan house especially is a gorgeous example of Japanese architecture) but are also very low prims.



But Yucca is more than just a talented designer and builder; she is also deeply dedicated to helping people. I still remember one particular time when I was having problems closing a particular sale to a very particular customer. Yucca went out of her way to modify the bungalow that the customer wanted to buy. Yucca wanted me to make the sale, but most importantly she wanted the customer to be happy with her new house. Today that customer, Eve Compton, is a very good friend. (Eve is also the owner of an SL mall. Stop by and take a look at Eve’s mall, Endeavour Cove )

Yucca continues to devote her efforts to helping others enjoy their SL experience. Yucca has not charged even a single Linden for all the work she has done at BH and for all the materials she has used in construction. You can see the same attention to detail in the apartments that Yucca has built at BH as in the houses that she made for sale at ABC Homes. Few builders in SL can match Yucca’s buildings for their detail and low prim construction.

In addition to building houses for sale, Yucca has built several Sims, ranging from simple and peaceful island settings, to very detailed Gorean cities. Her work is well known and highly sought out.

I am fortunate to have Yucca as my dear friend. BH is fortunate to have Yucca as its Master Builder. SL is fortunate to have people like Yucca as one of its in-world residents.

Please take the time to say “hi!” to Yucca and thank her for her work. When you are finally ready to move out of BH and buy your first house, go see Yucca and ask her to show you her houses.