Yaks

From the writer who brought us "A Feminist Babe" (View, March 4), I expected no less insight than I got from Jeannine Stein's cover story on Nepal--"Confessions of a Nepal Novice," May 31. The Hilburnesque straw dogs she set up in the form of tired jokes about high heels and malls sure made me excited. Come on, Jeannine, if you can call a potential trekking partner in Australia, couldn't you have done a little research on Nepal? Like that one of the main reasons for the deforestation of Nepal is to feed the yaks that carry the trekker's gear.

Erich Pfeiffer gets a yuk--better make that yak--out of cooking and sharing recipes for delectable dishes he has discovered on treks to such faraway places as Nepal and India. The German-born Mission Viejo resident, an engineer at Northrop, is deeply involved in trekking--prowling around mountains without roads or trails, led by native guides who generally do all the cooking.

When it comes to music industry rewards, no one's enjoyed more than Capitol Records Chairman Joe Smith. He's won every Man of the Year Award imaginable. If he pawned his gold records he could balance the national budget. His Lakers season tickets are first row--front and center. So with Smith's first book due out early next month, guess what he's really thrilled about? "I'm going to have three billboards on the Sunset Strip," he boasted, pacing his top-floor office at the Capitol Tower.

China on Friday flew an urgent consignment of military supplies to London for the British army--a sackful of yak hair to replace the thinning plumage adorning the helmets of the Queen's Household Cavalry. Tibetan tribesmen cut the coarse black hair from the underbellies of yaks in the Himalayan foothills after the Defense Ministry in London sent telegrams to British military attaches in Beijing and Katmandu. "Urgent requirement for prime yak hair. Cut to regimental specification of 18 inches.

For 33 years the Palomino has set aside one night of the week for something called talent night. The level of talent varies. "I'd say 10% of the acts are exceptionally good," said Harry Orlove, lead guitarist in the house band at the North Hollywood nightclub, "and 30% are really, really terrible. It's like a Fellini movie." With that, a succession of performers took the Palomino's stage one recent Monday and proved him right.

How many times have you had a reasonable, clear and seemingly conclusive discussion with a colleague who closed the conversation by asking: "Would you send me a memo on that, please?" This isn't only irritating and an enormous waste of time. It also reflects an unfortunate bias in modern organizations toward overvaluing literacy, underplaying verbal contracts and the simple honesty they require, and creating layers and layers of meddlesome paper-pushers.

"The stupidity of people never ceases to amaze me," the salesman said. "Something is wrong with a person if they will send me $20,000 or $30,000 over the phone." The salesman, who works in North Miami Beach under the name Kevin O'Brien, is typical of thousands of high-pressure telephone sales people around the country pushing questionable investments despite aggressive state and federal efforts to clean up the telemarketing industry.

A 30-pound baboon named Rosie gingerly handled a rubber ball "bomb," then gleefully tossed it to her trainer, dressed like Indiana Jones. He juggled it in mock horror and tossed it back. These antics drew youthful giggles from a crowd of 200 at Moorpark College's Wildlife Theater. A few little faces leaned forward to see if Indiana's cave girl nemesis, co-trainer Janine Turlik, who ended up with the "bomb," had discovered the prop in enough time to save herself. Not to worry.

The latest idea out of the Pentagon should get a good hee-haw from critics of the military's expensive and sometimes-balky high-tech weapon systems. The Army is going to consider bringing back the mule. Don't laugh yet. The suggestion for a study of old-time mule power in the new Army was made in conjunction with the re-establishment of the famous 10th Mountain Division. The new 10th's troops would equip themselves with ropes, pitons, ice axes and crampons.