THE LIVES OF EDDIE FISHER, CARLOS ALCARAZ AND JEREMY LIN

Five years ago I had a note about Eddie Fisher.  To quote:  

Lady of Spain was written by Tolchard Evans and Erell Reaves in 1931, first recorded by Al Bowlly that year.  Eddie Fisher with Hugo Winterhalter and his orchestra made it a hit in 1952, but reached only #6.  However, even though he had 17 hits in the top ten, his dumping of Debbie Reynolds to marry Liz Taylor cannot be forgiven.  This was kind of like Tennessee Waltz, for Taylor, Fisher, Reynolds and Mike Todd were the best of friends.  Debbie Reynolds had recently been in Singing in the Rain, and she served as matron of honor when Taylor and Todd got married, with Fisher as best man.  You know how long ago this was?  Well, the daughter of Reynolds and Fisher is Carrie Fisher of Star Wars fame, who was born in 1956 and died nearly four years ago at the age of 59.  Of all the things, Reynolds and Taylor again became friends much later on.

I was nostalgically reminiscing about those 50s, and happened to see Every Billboard #1 Hit from 1950-1959.  Fisher had four #1s:

• "Wish You Were Here" (1952)
• "I'm Walking Behind You" (1953)
• "Oh! My Pa-Pa" (1954)
• "I Need You Now" (1954) 

Eddie Fisher was born in Philadelphia on 10August 1928, the fourth of seven children to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrant parents from Russia.

• Dropped out of high school to pursue a singing career.
• At age 21 performed on Eddie Cantor's radio show, gained nationwide exposure, signed with RCA Victor, and became their best selling pop artist.

• 
  Was drafted in the Army in 1951, and supposedly served a year in Korea during the Korea War.  Its possible that he "only" had a tour there was serving as the vocalist for the U.S. Army Band.

• 
  Between 1950 and 1956 had 17 songs in the Top Ten, and 35 in the Top 40.
• Any Time in 1953 sold a million copies.
• Co-starred with then-wife Debbie Reynolds in the 1956 film Bundle of Joy, Rotten Tomatoes score of 64.  
• In 1957 signed a deal with  Tropicana Las Vegas to appear a minimum of 4 weeks for 5 years.

• 
  Was the best friend of showman Mike Todd, husband of Elizabeth Taylor.  Todd in 1958 died in a plane crash.
• Played  dramatic role in the 1960 Butterfield l8 with second wife Elizabeth Taylor.
• Has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for recording and the second for television.

• 
  Had a rather scandalous personal life.
• Five marriages and four children.
• Debbie Reynolds, 1955-1959, Carrie Fisher and Todd Fisher.

• Elizabeth Taylor, 1959-1964.
• 
  Connie Stevens, 1967 to 1969, Joely Fisher and Tricia Leigh Fisher.
• Terry Richard, 1975-6
• Benny Lin, 1993 to her death in 2001.

• 
  While performing in The Tropicana Hotel in 1957, had numerous affairs.
• Throughout his life had affairs with Ann-Margaret, Juliet Prowse, Stefanie Powers, Sue Lyon, Edie Adams, Judith Campbell, Mia Farrow and Michelle Phillips.
• Watch:  Scandals of Fisher.
• Died in 2010 at the age of 82, complications from hip surgery.

In other news of the day, Carlos Alcaraz beat Arthur Rinderknech today to make the U.S. Open quarterfinals.  I report on this tennis outcome only because of how attire has changed from the days when only white was allowed.  His shoes were also purple.

Did you know that Jeremy Lin was still playing professional basketball?

• Well, until just now, when he announced his retirement as the Most Valuable Player of the Taiwan Professional Basketball League at the age of 37.
• Who is he?  From Wikipedia:

Jeremy Shu-How Lin (Chinese: 林書豪; born August 23, 1988) is a Taiwanese-American^[1][2] former professional basketball player. He unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) during the 2011–12 season, sparking a cultural phenomenon known as "Linsanity". Lin is the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA, and is one of the few Asian Americans to have played in the league. He is also the first Asian American player to win an NBA championship, having done so with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

• 
  Was born in Torrance, California on 23August1988 and raised in Palo Alto.
• Was Player of the Year in the Northern California Division II.  
• Went to Stanford?  Nope, did offer him a scholarship.  
• So fled to Harvard, which does not offer sports scholarships.

• 
  In his freshman season, a Harvard coach remembered Lin for being the weakest guy on the team.
• But he developed well, and in his senior year, Harvard set numerous program records, like most wins (21), and became the first player in Ivy League history to record a combination of stats.  He also graduated in 2010 with a degree in economics and a 3.1 GPA.
• 
  No one drafted him, but he signed a deal with his hometown Golden State Warriors.
• Gained a cult following because he was Asian, but played very little.
• Went to China in 2011 and did well.
• During the offseason:

During the offseason, Lin worked to improve his jump shot by abandoning the shooting form he had used since the eighth grade. He also increased his strength, doubling the weight he could squat (from 110 pounds (50 kg) to 231 pounds (105 kg)) and almost tripling the number of pull-ups that he could do (from 12 to 30).^[69] He increased his body weight from 200 pounds (91 kg) to 212 (96), including 15 pounds (6.8 kg) of muscle. He added 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) to his standing vertical jump and 6 inches (15 cm) to his running vertical jump, and improved his lateral quickness by 32 percent.^[33][71] 

• 
  The Warriors weren't aware that he was a changed person, and waived him.  So did the Houston Rockets.
• The New York Knicks had several injuries, so picked him up.
• Arrived first at practice, and left last.  
• The Knicks was playing so bad in in January of 2012 that he played a little, but was on the team.  
• Lost 11 of 13 games, so Lin started over All-Star guard Deron Williams.  Scored 25 points with five rebounds and 7 assists, leading the Knicks in a victory over the New Jersey Nets.
• Started the next game and led them to a 7-game winning streak.
• On February 10 scored 38 points over the Las Angeles Lakers.  Won Player of the Week for averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2 steals in four starts, while the Knicks went undefeated for those games.
• 
  Metta World Peace of the Lakers coined the term LINSANITY.
• At the end of the season, The New York Times called Lin the Knicks most popular player in a decade.
• However, there was some resentment on the team, and Lin moved on to Houston the next season, where he attained normality, meaning mediocrity.
• Traded to the Lakers, Hornets, Nets, Hawks, then Raptors inn 2019.  Played in the finals to become the Asian American and Harvard grad to help win an NBA title.
• 
  But was unsigned in 2019, so left for the Beijing Ducks for $3 million/year.
• Moved to Taiwan in 2023, where he had a record game:  50 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, a triple double.
• Spent his final years with the New Taipei Kings, and retired yesterday after a 15-year careeer at the age of 37.

Incidentally, watch this if you want to view Every Billboard Hot 100 #1 single from 1958 to 2023.  Only takes a little over two hours.

Tropical Storm Kiko formed today in the East Pacific, and will become a hurricane.  However, the present projection has Kiko remaining south of Hawaii.

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SOME ODDITIES IN NATURE

 Have you ever seen an orange shark?

The above fish was caught this month by Garvin Watson in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica.  This was a 6-foot 6-inch nurse shark.  Watch this video.

That catch made me wonder about other oddities in nature.  For example, is there a red shark?  The answer, apparently, is no.  

• I once had an elaborate aquarium, a few fish were red-tailed black sharks.  However, this fish belongs to the carp family, and only the tail, caudal penuncle, was red.  Mine only grew to maybe three inches, but these can get up to 6 inches.  They are found in Thailand.
• There is also the rainbow shark, also from Southeast Asia.

• The reddest of these aquarium fish identified as a shark (and all of them aren't sharks), is the albino rainbow shark.

• A similar fish specie is the Galactic Purple Shark.

• About real sharks, there is a lemon shark, but the skin is only somewhat yellowish.  Grows to 11 feet.

• There are no true blue-colored sharks, but the Blue Shark is quite blue as a juvenile.  Looks less so when an adult.

• Finally, there are no real green sharks, although the swell shark does biofluoresce into a green tinge.

Oh well, what about some other oddities?  

• This Hoodwinker Sunfish, or Mola tecta, washed ashore in Oregon in 2017.  Can weigh more than 2000 pounds.

• 
  Coming to the greater New York City is the Joro spider.
• Originally from East Asia, the first documented arrival was to the southeastern U.S. in 2013, or possible as early as 2010.  Probably hitchhiked on cargo containers to a port close to Atlanta.

• 
  Already seen in Baltimore.
• About the size of a hand, with body an inch long and leg span up to four inches.
• Does not fly according to one report, but CBS says this is a venomous flying (with the wind) spider that eats butterflies.
• Does not harm vegetation.
• Becomes food for birds, with eggs a snack for racoons.
• NOT a risk to humans or pets.  Pain is somewhere between a bee sting and mosquito bite.
• 
  The gypsy (or spongy) moth was brought to Massachusetts in 1868 by French scientist Etienne Troubelot.
• He wanted to have a hardier silk-spinning caterpillar.

• 
  Well, it is now a major pest of hardwood trees, especially oak.
• Since 1980, this moth has defoliated over one million acres of forest areas/year.
• Cost?  Almost a billion dollars annually.

• 
  Did you know that the U.S. had a Locust (also called Grasshopper) Plague in 1874?
• Hordes of Rocky Mountain locusts invaded the Great Plains of the the U.S. and Canada.

• 
  Nearly 13 trillion locusts swarmed over 2 million square miles, causing considerable damage.
• Swarms covered the sun for up to six hours.

• 
  Locusts piled up to over a foot high and ate vegetation, wool off sheep and pitchfork handles.
• Excrement polluted ponds, streams and water supplies.
• Trains lost traction on tracks.
• President Ulysses Grant provided some financial relief and seeds.
• 
  That was not it, for 3.5 trillion locusts returned in 1875, the plague was troublesome for much of the 1870s.
• Supposedly, were not poisonous and would have been nutritious as oysters.
• Watch this video.

Did you know that there is such a concept as Entomological Warfare?

• Won't say much, but you go that Wikipedia site above.
• Anyway, insects are use to interrupt supply lines by damaging drops or harm troops/populations.
• Japan used this warfare against the Chinese in World War II.
• Under the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention of 1972, use of insects to administer agents or toxins for hostile purposes is deemed to be against international law.

To close, here is an accounting of invasive species to the USA.

• 39% of U.S. forests are impacted by invasive plants.
• Hawaii, the most isolated of any spot in the U.S., has the highest rate of forest infestations in the country, 70%.

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THE WAY OF TEA

While water is consumed the most, tea is second. The drinking of tea began in ancient China, the Shang Dynasty (1500-1046 BC).  But legend has it that the first cup of tea was brewed in 2723 BC for Emperor Shennong.  Coffee, is #3 and only came in the 15th century, probably in Yemen.

I've posted on tea several times.  Here is one from 20June2016.  To quote:

While hot beverages now have officially been placed on the warning list for being carcinogenic, coffee and tea appear now to have a range of health benefits that warrant your high consideration.  Just don't drink them too hot.

You thought you knew tea (mg of caffeine per 8 oz cup)?

• White (30-55):  wilted and unoxidized
• Yellow (33):  unwilted and unoxidized, and allowed to yellow
• Green (35-70):  uwilted and unoxidized
• Oolong (50-75):  wilted, bruised and partially oxidized
• Black (60-90):  wilted, sometimes crushed and fully oxidized (sometimes called Red)

Today, I will focus on a special type of tea, and the accompanying ceremony.  

• Began with Sen no Rikyu, Japanese tea master from 1522-1591 who is known for chanoyu, the Way of Tea.
• The tea used is matcha, or powdered green tea.
• Three Ways of Tea descended:  Omotosenke, Urasenke and Muchakojisenke.
• Rikyu was born in Osaka as Yoshiro Sen, and studied tea at age 19.
• Became a tea master for both  Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
• Emperor Ogimachi bestowed Yoshiro the title, Rikyu Koji.
• A difference of opinion with Hideyoshi was the reason why Rikyu comitted ritual suicide at the age of 70.  His next to last act was an exquisite tea ceremony.
• The tea room and accoutrements he designed then persist today.
• He began the Sen-family's tradition of chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony.
• Rikyu's death is still annually observed today.
• The three Sen families take turns holding a memorial ceremony on the 28th of every month at their family temple in Kyoto.
• 
  Today:
• Urasenke's 16th grand master is Genmoku Soshitsu, who was born in 1956.
• Omotosenke, 15th grand master Sosa, born 1970.
• Mushakojisenke, 14th grand master Sen Soshu, 1945.

I am most familiar with Urasenke for three reasons.

• Sen Soshitsu XV was the 15th Grand Master.  
• Born in 1923 in Kyoto.
• During World War II, was in the Japanese Navy airforce, and while assigned to be a kamikaze pilot, was deliberately bypassed to preserve his dynasty.
• Became especially linked to the University of Hawaii, where leaders of the state met as a Urusenke tea ceremony group.
• Served in an official capacity from 1964 to 2002.  His son Soshitsu Sen XVI, who is married to a granddaughter of Emperor Taisho, replaced him.
• In his retirement adopted the name Sen Genshitsu.
• 
  Traveled the world to promote the ethos of Peacefulness through a Bowl of Tea.
• Met him in February of this year when he gave a lecture and presided over a tea ceremony at the University Hawaii Manoa Campus.  Here he was, over a hundred years old, and he stood for an entire hour for his talk.  He had an interpreter, but his voice was strong.

• Six months later, on 14August2025, he passed away at the age of 102.
• 
  The second reason is that, more than 40 years ago, I was asked by the then president of the University of Hawaii, Fujio Matsuda, to join his Urusenke tea ceremony group.  Members were the political leaders of the state.  I declined.  Why?  They met regularly on Saturday mornings.  I had a golf group I did not want to abandon.  The others in this foursome were the Chancellor of the campus, dean of engineering and another university administrator.  Who knows, if I had turned to tea, I might have become governor of the state, which on afterthought, would not have been as enjoyable as what became my life.  Above right is a photo of the Way of Tea Center on the Manoa Campus.

I also had another tea ceremony encounter a couple of decades ago.

• During my quest to promote the Blue Revolution, I gave several speeches on the subject in Japan.
• In one of those, an invitation by Nihon University of Tokyo, a member of the Osaka Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, which had received two $1 billion dollar awards for the building of two Kansai Airport runways, was present.
• 
  I was asked to give a talk in Kyoto to the group.
• The leader was someone named Masaharu Kimoto, who had a PhD in marine resources and was a  teamaster (top row left).  We visited him in April of 2009.  

This might have been our most enjoyable day/night, ever. Dr. Masaharu Kimoto (marine resource leader, shamisen expert, teamaster...and much more) arranged for his wife, Mihoko, aide, Mr. Katayama (who is soon to receive his PhD), and translator, Aya, a former Geiko, to take us through Heian Shrine (Pearl/Aya/Mihoko in top photo above), Nijo Castle, The Golden Pavilion (tour guide/Mihoko/Pearl/Aya/Katayama)...soba lunch...and Sanjusangen-do, which houses 1002 Buddhas (where photography is prohibited--wonder how this photo was taken for Wikipedia). This is the site where, Miyamoto Musashi had his famous duel with Yoshioka Denshichiro in 1604. Next door is the Hyatt Hotel.

.

We then attended a Maiko/Geiko (in Kyoto, Geishas are called Geikos) stage performance, followed by a fabulous Kyoto dinner, joined by two Maikos (novices learning the trade) and a Geiko, who then all accompanied us to a karaoke bar, where I had a Nikka Tsuru and sang "Blue Hawaii" with Pearl.

• 
  Kimoto-san visited Honolulu, and as he hosted me for 18-holes in Kyoto, I did the same at what then was the most challenging in the world, the Koolau Golf Course. He got a hole-in-one.
• This led to him asking me to join the board of his fisheries cooperative, for which I got a monthly stipend, which went on for a decade.
• I also learned about the Way of Tea when I visited him.  This was my third connection to Urasenke.  He bestowed on me a tea ceremony kit.

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