the-vu

By Jeffrey the Barak.

An appreciative look at the Seiko SKX007

It is common for men who collect affordable watches to have between one and several Seiko SKX007 diver’s watches in their collection. It has become a standard classic watch against which others are measured. Perhaps only the Rolex Submariner shares this role in being such a universal standard to which other watches are compared.

The 007 is a big watch, with a diameter of 42.5 mm excluding the crown. (The Rolex above has a case diameter of 40mm but the photos are not to scale). Even with the oversize trend bringing us wrist clocks of 50 mm and beyond, no one would ever say that 42.5 mm was not a big watch by any standard.

The Seiko SKX007 uses the most common movement found in many different Seiko and Seiko 5 watches in this price range, the 7S26. It is a reasonably accurate automatic self-winder with quick set day and date and no hacking feature. But this article is not about the movement. There are already several online reviews to be found that take a more detailed and technical look at this icon. Rather I am writing about the SKX007 as the staple of any collection, and hopefully about it’s general style.

Men’s watches today have settled into a few pigeonholes, with the largest category being that of the diver’s watch. Depth ratings vary but the 200 meter rating of the 007 places it in the most common group.

Most owners of this widely owned watch would never be caught scuba diving to the rated limit of 200 meters below the surface of the sea, or even snorkeling at half a meter, or in some cases they would never be seen wet, but the solid, strong weight and feel of a diver and the undeniable usefulness of the time elapsed rotation bezel make the divers watch the ideal tool for life on dry land also. After all, you can time all your cooking and parking and then clean your watch with water.

The 007 is a reasonably big, but not too big, plain vanilla, middle of the road diver that has evolved from older popular Seikos like the cushion cased 6309. It tells you the date and the day, although if it happens to be around midnight you never be too sure of the wheels have jumped to the next day or date yet, or you may see them not quite reaching the dial’s window. The time displayed is usually pretty close to accurate, or more often a tiny bit fast than a little slow. But this is no quartz and such things are to be expected from a real watchmaker’s movement.

My first Seiko was a different diver. No date, no steel (well maybe inside the movement, but the case and bracelet were Titanium). That was an SKX403 and one day in 2003 a burglar dropped by the house and took it away.

Not long after that day I was in downtown L.A. with a small clip of twenties and a shopping list that read “watch” Two watches caught my eye and made it to the short list that day. The SKX007 and the SKX781 Orange Monster. I bought the Monster and wore it for five years. But by the end of that five year Monster period, I was buying and selling other watches with enough frequency that I came to the realization that I was a flipping crazy collector.

So after some delay, in 2008 I finally and belatedly got myself an SKX007. I chose a Jubilee bracelet as it’s mount because I liked the way the small shiny center links complimented the bezel grip. I really admired the watch and imagined it was all I needed. I considered making it my one and only. But for the 007, the timing was bad, because it came into my life during one of those mood swings that occasionally confounds collectors. I am constantly torn between wanting to own every watch I like, and being a one watch minimalist.

Shortly after receiving my new 007 I also acquired my favorite watch, a Japan market Seiko Prospex SBCB009 Solar Titanium Scuba. Visually, a direct descendant of my SKX403 that was stolen in 2003. This watch sent me to eBay to sell everything else, including my 007 which was really in 99% new condition at the time. There was one thing about the 007 that I didn’t like. The minute hand. Something about that shiny edged arrow shape just bugged me and when it was time to cull, the 007 was gone, along with all my others save for the Solar.

But over time as the collection started to pull itself back together after a brief one-watch Nirvana, I felt the need to consider another 007. At a Poor Man’s Watch Forum Get-Together (PMWG GTG) in Orange County California, I saw a few nicely modified watches based on either the 007 or the 6309 or 7002.

By this time I had become an enthusiast of modified watches, and was enjoying a great SNK809 mod, so after much back and forth, I commissioned a 007 with a yellow dial. But I made an error of judgement with that one. The hands should have been blacker. Alas I could not easily see the time, mainly due to the wrong choice of hands, so within a few days, I had it for sale. Without pausing to breathe I then commissioned another one. This time with the standard, unmodified dial, but with a red plongeur hand set.

The 007 is a very common platform for the watch modifiers. The widely used 7S26 movement will take a wide variety of modified dials and hands, and with replacement bezel inserts and various case finishes, you can have thousands of varieties of this watch, which comes only one way from the factory.

Of course this means the modifiers have piles of 007 dials sitting around that have been removed from 007’s during the modification process. Having come across a picture of a 007 dial shoehorned into a non-diver, I unexpectedly realized something. The original dial is great! It does not have steel edged applied dot markers like the Seiko SKX031 (Submariner style), but rather just delicious blobs of luminous white on a flat black background. Paired with the cartoonish red and white of the custom plongeur hand set, this dial makes the 007 a visual riot of clear precise time comprehension. A blend of Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse and Jacques Cousteau.

In fact I’ll say that the original hands of the 007 do not do it’s intensely dotty dial justice. The shiny edges of the original hands distract the eye from those crazy white dots floating on their sea of inky black.

So my new 007 mod, a riotous conglomeration of brushed steel, matte black, luminous white, and red paint, would be quite at home in a cartoon and it is certainly at home on my wrist.

I have experienced the oversize craze, enjoyed it and moved through it. I now know my ideal case diameter is somewhere around 39 mm, but for a good design exceptions are made. And it’s worth going back up to 42.5 mm again in order to enjoy the standard classic diver that is the 007.

Jeffrey the Barak spends too much time thinking about watches and is the publisher of the-vu

Scooterer Stories
By Louis the Scooterer

The travels of Louis the Scooterer, a retired former South African who has found an unusual way of getting to know Israel.

Part Ten – Not Route 66, just Route 6, but at least there’s an Elvis.

Driving thru major cities and heavily populated areas do have some interesting places, but I reckon boredom could set in…so a quick discussion with myself, it is decided we will bypass those places and head toward Jerusalem and bypass to road 90 at the north end of The Dead Sea…and then will head NORTH ON 90. Then to much more exciting places. So now, I take the shortest route and get to Highway 6 (Kvish 6) to experience a short portion of that excellent highway.

I wrote a story elsewhere about that experience and its worth repeating here while we stop for a while at Herzl Forest and a quick visit to Engineering Forces Monument ( the highway story is told to you now while we take a coffee break…on the lawns at the monument.

Kvish 6 = Highway 6

Once, way back in the past – when I was still new to scootering – I remember vaguely having read something about an “Across Israel” (Highway 6) that was being built to be called Kvish 6. Then sometime later I read a sentence somewhere that the first 18 kilometers were ready and would be opened on some date or other. So, one day while scootering around, I came upon a road that was freshly tarred and was newly painted with pure white lines (being a new onramp >>> onto a new road).

So I asked a man in a van, “what is happening here?” He told me that Road 6 would be opening — in about 10 minutes, and IF I hung around I would be the first person to drive on it! About 10 minutes later, he told me to go!

The FIRST motor vehicle on the new highway was “me on my scooter”, going south…. no fanfare, no fuss, no cutting ribbons (this onramp was near Eyal Kibbutz. I rode those 18 kms on this beautiful, clean, smooth, well-built road with absolutely NO TRAFFIC. Later, one car went past me, and also an official “Road 6” patrol van.

So, all too soon I rode that 18 kms and went off at the new off ramp pointing to Rosh Ha’ayin, and rode to a coffee shop at a petrol station to drink a cup of coffee.

Then, about 30 minutes later, I decided to do the 18 kms going north….

NOW, this gets interesting… coz the new onramp is at the Head Offices of Kvish 6, and here was a big media event, TV people with cameras, newspaper people with cameras, many people with cameras… (except me, I never had a camera). There was a big party going on at the offices.

Many important dignitaries attended the “official opening”, and the “first drive,” which is from the office block going north — to the Eyal off ramp ~~> 18 kms.

I scooted in to the parking area and a woman ran up to me telling me “to get on the bus quickly, it’s waiting for me” (she thought I was a reporter from a newspaper). I soon sorted that out. So, I went into the lobby at the offices, a very posh affair with many people wearing suits.

I was given an orange juice and a cookie and a couple of maps, then someone told me I must leave… So a few minutes later I scootered on to the new 6 going ~~> north.

I noticed a few buses, many cars and vans and other vehicles were following me… as though I was the escort. After a short distance, all those vehicles overtook me and I guess I was at “the right-place at the right moment.”

I have since traveled several times on this beautiful, well planned, well built, well looked after, Kvish 6 highway, and also recently completed, now has two new twin filling-station-rest-rooms-shopping-complex on BOTH sides of the highway…. one way down south and the other up north. IT IS A DRIVING PLEASURE.

So I say…”Well done” and keep on adding new sections, and every time a new section was completed, I took a scoot to ride on it. The costs for a scooter are very little and I always feel safe riding on clean, litter-free roads. And all my trips have been in daylight hours.

A couple of times there were queries about the account that I received, but they were always solved by very pleasant personnel. I learned that much of the processes are automatically done to completion by computers, and the bill is clear and straightforward.

We need to squeeze a couple of hours visit to MINI ISRAEL…worth every minute and much more…all the model buildings and buses and trucks and soccer stadium and ports and cable-cars…and everything in Israel that is major importance is there in miniature….no problem with parking at the entrance, and obtaining a small electric golf cart to travel around in…Mini Israel is open on Saturdays, and is usually crowded so if you can manage during the week…better still.

Another couple of hours minimum is a must visit to the Armoured Brigade Military Museum at LATRUN where all sorts of armoured vehicles and tanks and many assorted vehicles of war that were captured from the enemies..during several wars. Pay an entrance fee and get some brochures, a movie in English explains and knowledgeable guides take you around and explain many things. (CLOSED ON SATURDAYS)… altho many captured vehicles can be seen if you drive a few hundred meters on the side road to the end of the fence. As usual, walking shoes and cameras always.

A short visit to the Monastery close by and a visit inside if you like climbing many steps…some days there are open air markets and food kiosks in the carpark.

Of course plan your day to visit NEWE SHALOM, close to Latrun, a neighbourhood where Israeli and Arab live side by side. A quick stop at the hotel lobby for some good brochures and then take a slow drive (or even a walk) through the streets and see what can be achieved.

Then we kadimah (move forward) coz our new journey has only just begun.

We pick-up route #1 and head toward Jerusalem..and at junction at Abu Ghosh we make a detour and head for ELVIS INN…this delightful restaurant that remains furnished in Elvis Presley times and hundreds of photos on the walls are a reminder as we sit at a table with Elvis Presley, and his music is always in the background. Excellent service from a small snack to a full meal, and if you drink a coffee, you get to take the mug as a souvenir.

I must mention the incredible toilets that cater for many tour buses that stop there. Outside in the carpark are many Elvis reminders including a magnificent “gold” statue of “The King Of Rock n Roll)..this is a “must” visit.

As we may start our day very early and finish very late, I’m not suggesting sleeping time but for the record I have slept over several times at Yitzchak Rabin Youth hostel…which is nicely placed for restaurants and for leaving the city without being snarled in traffic.

So, after Elvis Inn we stay on #1 and travel east til we get to #90…with a few short stops on the way to take pictures. 6 stops for 5 minutes each should be enough….you will decide what pics you want,
and at the end of #1 we coffeesnack at the same place we were at on an earlier time. We look at our mapatlas and plan our trip north on #90.

(Very much more exciting than driving thru built-up areas surrounded by highrise buildings and shopping malls).

Louis the Scooterer is 69 years old and it sounds like he’s just getting started.

An interview with Makela Brizuela, by Jeffrey the Barak.

In 2006, a very different dance performance was first presented in Venice California. Entitled “URBAN TANGO, The Agony and Ecstasy of Amateur Tango – In Search of the Elusive Embrace”, it was different in many ways and attracted the attention of many in the dance community.

Directed and choreographed by Makela Brizuela, the cast consisted of amateur Tango dancers, not professional dancers, and most of the cast were students of Makela. But even more unusual was the theme.

In a dance performance without spoken word, whether ballet or in this case, Argentine Tango, it takes a little more than the performance itself to explain what exactly is being conveyed by the dance. In 2006, the amateur performers seemed inspired by the passion of this event, and were heard enthusiastically explaining the concept and theme of the show to anyone who would listen.

The concept was repeated and passed along, and in some cases the theme may have been, shall we say incorrectly described as third and fourth hand versions made it down the line of communication. But one thing was clear, something about this event really got everyone stirred up.

With the reappearance of the show in February 2007, it is appropriate that the creator get a word in and talk a little about herself as well as Urban Tango…

It is unusual to find a Tango instructor with a B.A., an M.A., or a PHD, but despite her chosen profession, Makela has one of each.

J the B: How does someone with your academic qualifications choose the life of a Tango instructor?

MB: I studied ballet since an early age, and danced my entire life. When I was 10-12 years old, I used to direct my little sister (she was 6 years younger than me), to create little plays for our family. Even though dance was a major part of my life, my parents thought that I also needed to stimulate my brain, and that is why I chose a career that was as close as art as possible: Literature. I went to the University of Buenos Aires where I finished my BA

When I started to study Linguistics as a requirement, I got fascinated by the power of language in communication. At that time I realized, that I am the most passionate when I can make a difference in peoples lives by helping them out to communicate between each other. I finished my MA and PHD in General Linguistics at USC in 1999.

J the B: How did you get local Tango dancers, and students of dance to cross the line into public performance?

MB: When I started dancing tango in 1995, the power of language in communication made even more sense. I was for the first time able to connect to another human being at a total different level, feeling ecstasy without using words.

Being an Academic and a Professor would not have given me the opportunity of touching the lives of people in the same way. When I teach Tango, I can see how human beings are transformed to the best that they can be. Tango takes them to a journey of interpretations of rejection, inadequacy, isolation; all these feelings are rooted in each individual’s past. Dancing Tango is so rewarding, that most of the people are willing to face those fears, and overcome them to enjoy the dance.

J the B: In many of the descriptions of the theme of this performance, people are talking about the typical situation at a Milonga (Tango Dance) where the women have to wait for the man to ask them to dance, and of course it’s quite the same in the Ballroom community. How does Urban Tango address this?

MB: Being a woman without a steady partner in this Tango Community had taught me lots of things. There were periods where I was thinking that there were ‘scarcity of men’, other periods where I thought that ‘men are all losers’, other periods where I thought that ‘the women are the problem’, and it was a very long journey, until I realized that the power of enjoying tango is within myself. When I go to a MILONGA (social event) it is up to me to enjoy it or to be miserable in it. So, in order to have a good time, I consciously either try to meet friends there, or I will try to have a goal (for instance learning by observing dancing), or I would go just to see people. Suddenly everything started to open up.

When I started teaching I got lots of complaints from women that men are this or that, that they sit and wait forever at the Milonga, and that they do not enjoy tango, and I wanted to do something about it. That is how URBAN TANGO was born. I saw that I have a responsibility as a woman on my own, to allow other women to see that the experience of tango is totally up to them. It doesn’t matter if there are not enough men, or if some women are not nice to each other. It is up to us what we create in our community.

As a result, we started to see great changes. The men in our show, are very supportive of us, and they understand that they are helping us to express a female point of view. We are very grateful to them, and they are the proof that there are AMAZING men in the tango community, we just need to let them show up like that. We also started creating strong bonds between women, that went through difficult process of healing, but that resulted in a safe community where dancing is enjoyed.

Urban Tango shows the process that woman goes through when they chose Tango as their way of self-expression. First she goes to a Tango Class and feels the joy of it, she starts practice and to have fun with it, until she goes to a milonga and have a bad experience. That bad experience (for instance, sitting and waiting all night, or being hurt by a man, or falling in love with the wrong man, etc. etc.), does not allow her to enjoy the dance, so her first reaction is to be angry at women. That competition does not go anywhere, and then she starts to feel really sad. By supporting each other, and by allowing herself to experience that pain, very slowly she realizes that the power is in herself. From there on, she starts enjoying tango fully.

J the B: How did you approach the students and local Tango dancers with the opportunity to perform publicly?

MB: When I called my students with this opportunity I was surprised, because most of them told me that they would do the project just to work with me. I was blown away. They saw, even more clearly than me that I was aiming for a transformation of an entire community. I made sure that they understood that this project would allow them to see their dream come true, not only to enjoy the ecstasy of tango, but also to be able to share this with the women and men in the audience.

URBAN TANGO, The Agony and Ecstasy of Amateur Tango – In Search of the Elusive Embrace will again be performed in Venice, California, at the Electric Lodge, in February 2006.

Makela’s website is: http://www.makelatango.com/

Tickets for the show can be purchased here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/8979

By Dan Hall

Propagandaville – a quaint little town with white picket fences, nuclear families, neighborhood schools, and friendly salespeople who’ll be as nice and polite as possible so long as you’re shelling out money to buy their wares. Yes, in Propagandaville, money is king, and snake-oil peddlers abound, pushing their products onto unsuspecting people all in the name of health.

News of Human Growth Hormone or HGH has flooded the television and print advertising market in the past decade. Claims that HGH will retard the aging process, boost your sex drive, build muscle mass, help trim fat, cure depression, make you more intelligent, and cause you to feel better and healthier are ever-present in the media. But are these claims accurate? Is HGH therapy truly the new elixir of youth, or are the claims unsubstantiated, inaccurate, and just plain wrong?

HGH research has been occuring since as early as the 1960s, perhaps even earlier. HGH isolated from human pituitary glands is often used therapeutically to treat people with growth hormone deficiency, which could easily lead to reduced muscle mass and bone density. Of course, a true deficiency in growth hormone is not normal; it can be caused by a variety of factors, including hypopituitarism, tumors of the brain, and so
forth. Traditionally, people who need HGH treatment visit endocrinologists and do not purchase their HGH from infomercials.

Truthfully, HGH no longer exists, as scientists have stopped using true Human Growth Hormone and now market synthetic growth hormone. People claiming to sell HGH are not truly selling Human Growth Hormone but a synthetic blend that could very well be anything! Chances are, what is being sold is nothing more than amino acids or proteins wrapped in a neat little package. Unless you have a true GH deficiency and are willing to be diagnosed by an endocrinologist, you’re most likely wasting your money on mass-marketed HGH.

What’s frightening about all of this is that HGH does have its side-effects–ones that are rarely if ever mentioned on television. Diabetes, a gross enlargement of the nose and other facial features, a thickening of the skin and connective tissue, an increase in muscle mass but not strength, nerve damage, joint pain, certain cancers, edema, and other symptoms have been reported after prolonged use of commercial HGH. This is not something to be taken lightly, for it can very well have a negative effect on your health.

Homeopathic HGH (which is sold in small dosages) may actually live up to some of the hype, but only because the dosages are small enough to affect a change but not significant problems. Muscle mass may increase, skin may appear healthier, and energy may rise–in part due to the pituitary gland producing more natural GH as a side-effect–but these are all temporary effects. The true causes of aging have little to do with a lack of HGH and more to do with a lack of nutrition and/or an overabundance of toxins lodged within the joints and tissues. HGH can only add to these problems, not solve them.

Longevity cannot be found in a pill. A life-transformation is required to slow, stop, and perhaps reverse the aging process. Changes in diet, thought process, activity, and other areas of life are all necessary to remain young and live a long, healthy life. Pills, powders, shakes, oils, and other products will never replace true healthy living. And until we, as a society, can embrace the natural laws that will keep us healthy, we will continue to look for the next great wonder drug, thereby fueling the informercial conglomerates well into the future.

Dan Hall is a teacher and author living in Georgia. He is the author of the book Neohygiene. Visit him on the Web at http://www.neohygiene.com.