Day: June 30, 2004

Saw Bill Moyers at the Union Square Barnes & Noble. I totally didn’t know that he was going to be there — I had intended to rendevous with P– because she forgot her cell phone. However, he had just read part of his new book, Moyers on America: A Journalist and His Times. We decided to get books signed. I didn’t know initially what to say to him, but then I recalled his Becoming American series, and I knew that I had to thank him for that, and also for the pivotal role he had in the passing of the 1965 Immigration Act. I wouldn’t be here if my parents weren’t able to come to this country, and I’m sure that is true of many others. Moyers retires this year, and this caps off his tour of the Three Estates. Thanks for everything.

Hmm. Got on the D-train tonight, and there were all these people with Yankee jerseys on. I kept thinking, huh? And then it hits me – the D takes people to and fro Yankee Stadium. D’uh – I got aboard a train just after the game ended. At one point, some guys teased (rather harmlessly, thankfully) a pair of Boston Red Sox fans off the train (they were at their stop, apparently). Oh, well. So it goes in this city.

Watched PBS the other night (without cable, it appears to be the only stuff I can watch these days without grumbling about how crummy tv is lately). “History Detectives” season 2 – wherein PBS does a twist on the Antiques Roadshow with History Roadshow; the scholars are presented items and they dig through various resources to see what’s the story behind the item. Cool stuff. I like how they get into what they’re doing and get really interesting stories. The other night, sociologist Tukufu Zuberi, is presented with watercolors of a Japanese-American internment/concentration camp from World War II, painted on the back of reused paper that had been postered notices that sent communities to the camps. He followed up on various resources (even sifting through the microfilm) to track down the artist himself, who didn’t get his apology/reparation from the federal government until 1990. Amazing story. Check out the website for the episode’s transcript on the camp’s story segment and other interesting slide shows and links.