Airport Distractions -- Japanese Toys

SFO -- Airports can suck the life out of you. You want to get home/to your meeting/to the beach to start your vacation, but maybe you're flight is delayed or, worse, cancelled. Even if it's on time, waiting at the airport (for people who fly often) can seem a lot like Groundhog Day. Generic food, generic news shops, generic luggage for sale, generic clueless travelers who bump into people who are all on their generic cellphones.

How nice to have something different to look at. Say, for example, Japanese Toys. Thanks to the folks at SFO who put this exhibit together.

One of the reasons this exhibit resonated so much with me is that my mother lived and worked in Japan in the early 1950s, and I grew up with Japanese apple head dolls displayed through the house and lots of Japanese prints and even a silk room divider. My mother brought back fabric and made fancy cocktail dresses for herself. This is the only one that survived.

I never knew that the apple head dolls were called Kokeshi dolls.

My mother also brought back porcelain pillows. I don't know the history, but seriously, did anyone ever really sleep on one of these?

Silk room divider is in the background.

Alcatraz Rock(s)

SAN FRANCISCO BAY -- As tourist attractions go, Alcatraz is one of the cooler man-made destinations (both literally and figuratively). My down jacket and wool scarf were much appreciated today, even though it was probably 55 degrees, maybe even 60.

Alcatraz as a prison was just one incarnation of the Rock in the Bay, and it only served that purpose from 1934 to 1963. 1,545 men did time there, some of the more notorious being Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and "Birdman of Alcatraz" Robert Stroud.

With crowds of tourists swarming the island, I can't say that I felt the presence of any of those tormented souls (some of whom were tormentors themselves). In fact, compared to the Old Idaho Penitentiary and the Eastern State Penitentiary, it didn't seem to me as stark, with gardens and birds and even the residences of some of the staff whose children headed out to school in San Francisco by boat each morning. That doesn't mean it would have been a comfortable place to be locked up. I'm sure those inmates were cold a good part of the time. And it must have been hard for the men to be able to see glittering San Francisco and even to hear the revelry of people celebrating on New Year's Eve.

My Guest Blog for READING THE PAST

CYBERSPACE -- READING THE PAST is Sarah Johnson's beautifully designed blog, jam packed with book reviews and links and just about anything a history-lover could want. It's for people who love to read books about history, but I would also recommend it to people who maybe don't know that they like reading about history. For those of you in that latter category, give it a try!

Sarah graciously invited me to guest blog about PRISONER 88, and here is the link to her site:

http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-young-voice-from-past-guest-essay-by.html

Pieces of the Past

PITTSBURGH -- I had the opportunity to look through an array of artifacts that have been dug up around the Fort Pitt Block House. http://www.fortpittblockhouse.com/

Included among the artifacts were hundreds of pieces of broken glassware. These particular ones show a variety of patterns from dishes that were buried in the ground around the Block House, probably from the time when families lived there or nearby (throughout the1800s), possibly from fill brought to the site, or maybe even bottles from a bottle factory that was located across the Allegheny River that may have used the Block House for storage.

Stephen Foster: 150 Years Gone

ALLEGHENY CEMETERY, PITTSBURGH -- Every year since at least 1923, on January 13th -- the anniversary of Stephen Foster's death -- a ceremony is held at the Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood where Foster is buried. Yesterday's event saw a pretty good turnout because of a notable milestone:  150 years since Foster's death at the ungodly age of 37.

Children sang, historians spoke (and also sang), and the rest of us sang, too. And Joe Negri, known to many as Handyman Negri of Mister Rogers Neighborhood, played his jazz mash-up of "Ring Ring the Banjo" and "Swanee River" with some "Nelly Bly" and "Oh! Susanna" tossed in the mix.

Stephen Foster music is timeless. I included "Camptown Races" in my novel, Prisoner 88. Kentucky and Florida use Stephen Foster songs as their state songs. Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young have recently recorded "Oh! Susanna" and "Hard Times Come Again no More." Rest in Peace, Stephen Foster.

In Oakland near the Carnegie Museum.

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/01/13/Composer-Stephen-Foster-remembered-with-graveside-concert-at-Allegheny-Cemetery/stories/201401130134

Larry Won the Pittsburgh Poker Open (Winter Series) Championship , 2013!

RIVERS CASINO, PITTSBURGH -- It's a little late to write about this now that it's over, but I couldn't write much while it was going on yesterday because the film crew didn't allow electronic devices on the set. Confused? Here's a link to the Poker Night in America Facebook page. It mentions something about the winner being Larry Pileggi, a personal friend of mine. https://www.facebook.com/pokernightinamerica/posts/479456748837334

Day 1A started on Friday at noon. Pros in town who I saw included Darvin Moon and Greg Raymer. Day 1B was Saturday, but Larry had made it through Day 1A with a slightly less than average chip stack and without a rebuy. (Up to a certain point, a player can buy in again after busting out -- a rebuy.)

On Sunday, Day 2, play started at noon. It ended 16 1/2 hours later at 4:30 a.m. with the final six players. Yesterday, Day 3, play would start at 2 p.m., but Larry had to go to work in the morning. We slept maybe three hours (and wow am I feeling the effects of that now!).

This was the first time that a poker event would be filmed in Pittsburgh. Poker Night in America was the company doing the filming. The set was built upstairs in the ballroom area of the casino. Surrounded by black curtains, the table and cameras took up a space about the size of a two-car garage. Before play started, the players were miked and the lights and the cameras (5 cameras) were set up. The players were tense -- they were way too quiet for poker players. At one time, I counted 28 people in that small space, folks from Rivers Casino, from Poker Tonight in America, dealers, Dave Crawley of KDKA and his camera man, a photographer from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and even the young woman who served drinks (who was dressed in the required red santa-inspired cocktail dress).

Early on, Larry lost a huge hand. That's when my stomach settled down. He plays well short, and he wasn't going to crumble. I couldn't see the cards, but it almost didn't matter. The whole thing was over in about 3 hours. Well, before it was over, I did get to see the cards up close and personal.

By the time it was heads up, the chip stacks were so large that Larry couldn't reach beyond them. Management called me over to help. Sometime I stack chips for Larry, but I don't usually put in his bets for him. This time I had to. I don't play poker myself, even though I've watched a lot. (Okay, I played once or twice, but I don't really have the ability to concentrate for that long.) I'm just thankful I understood how the big and small blinds work in heads up. I felt like I was wearing boxing gloves, but I tried my best not to be seen.

And then it was over. Larry had won.

When we went back down to the poker room, the Poker Night in America broadcast was being streamed to all the TVs, but on a delay. People were confused because to them, it wasn't over yet. Was Larry out? And then they saw that he was carrying the box with the trophy in it. Yes, a Pittsburgh guy beat the pros.

The First Fan Letter For Prisoner 88!

PITTSBURGH, VIA NEW JERSEY -- At this summer's Princeton Children's Book Festival, I met Arron, who is nine years old. He and his dad bought PRISONER 88, and I just received a terrific letter now that Arron has read the book.

Here we are at the Princeton Children's Book Festival

I had asked Arron to think about the character Jake and to let me know if he thought Jake was guilty. This is what he said:

"Dear Ms. Pileggi,
Hello. We met in Princeton. My dad and I read Prisoner 88. It was a great story. I don't think he [Jake] is guilty because he didn't remember pulling the trigger. I hope he had a good life, too.
Sincerely,
Arron"

Thanks, Arron, for your thoughtful letter!