Month: June 2004

I just drove 108 miles in the last 12 hours. This may not seem like a big deal to anyone outside of NYC, but 1. this was between 7 PM and 7 AM this morning, and 2. the drive was completely within Brooklyn and Queens, and 3. New Yorkers hate to drive, especially between the stated time periods and especially if they don’t end up going anywhere.

Stop one: a fundraiser for a Korean civil rights group in Astoria. Met Councilman John Liu from Flushing (again — saw him at a dinner the night before also). His speech: if NYC is 10% Asian, and there are 51 members in the Council, there ought to be at least 5 Asian councilmembers, right? Right. His driven determination is what we as APAs need to do.

Stop two: P–‘s house, where I took a power nap. She also happens to live 15 minutes away from JFK.

Stop three: JFK terminal 4, a.k.a. “The Terminal” where Tom Hanks is stranded. I’m there to pick up my aunt. Unfortunately, she’s flying BWIA from Trinidad, which means that they are on island time, i.e. whenever. Scheduled for 10 PM, it was pushed back to 2 AM, and then to 3 AM. So, I’m the one that’s stranded, having to spend $2.99 for a bottle of Pepsi and $9 for parking that should have cost $1.50. Finally clearing customs at about 10 to 4, I drive like a madman to my parents’ place.

Stop four: P–‘s house, where she’s getting ready for a 7:30 am flight to Seattle. The sun’s been out for about an hour at this point.

Stop five: JFK Terminal 9. While my night vision sort of sucks, it’s compensated by the fact that there is virtually no one on the Belt Parkway at 3 in the morning. Now, it gets crowded and limos dart in and out while I get my 30 seconds at the curb.

Stop six: My apartment, where I’m writing this instead of packing for my trip to Seattle tonight. I’m staying out there, making a day trip to Vancouver (dragon boat races!), and returning Tuesday. We’ll have internet, so I’ll blog from there. See you on the other coast (and I get to christen a new location category!)

And no, I’m not driving — I’m going to take the AirTrain.

Following the 60th anniversary of D-Day in Europe, let’s not forget that WWII had a warfront in the Pacific side, and so the NY Times reports how, with less fanfare, Saipan of the Northern Mariana Islands honors the D-Days of the Pacific. The article notes;

[M]any Saipan veterans and their supporters gathered here on Tuesday said that just as in World War II, the American popular mind continued to relegate the Pacific theater to second-class status…. Jerry Facey, co-chairman of the Saipan’s 60th Anniversary Committee, said that during two years of organizing Tuesday’s events, he received a long series of “no’s” from Washington politicians and Pentagon brass who were invited to attend the ceremonies. Recalling the last big commemoration that he organized, he said: “It is just like the 50th, we were overshadowed by Normandy. We are so remote, people just forget.”

Recollecting the liberation of a region from Japanese occupation, and reflecting after 60 years of lives lost and lives changed:

On Sunday, a memorial was dedicated to the 933 indigenous people who died in the World War II battles and their aftermath.

On Tuesday, this new monument was at the end of the short parade, which saw some of the octogenarian veterans walking, others riding while standing in the backs of two balky World War II-era military trucks.

“It’s changed a lot, but we sure love it,” Hal Olsen, a Navy veteran from New Jersey, shouted down from one truck, referring to Saipan, and perhaps to the open-air thrill of riding in the back of a truck.

Hmm. Must be very nice there at this time of year, a nice one more chance for the veterans to enjoy paradise and recall how it was once not paradise.

The NY news cable channel NY1 is having “Brooklyn Week.” Such a nice coverage, especially the stuff on Brooklyn cuisine, (Brooklyn being a place of different restaurants and livelihoods).

Fascinating story on Simmie Knox, the artist who painted the official White House portraits of the Clintons – who just happens to be the first African-American commissioned to paint a presidential portrait.

Interesting article in Law.com – top-notched law professors being poached, traded, and signed like they’re professional athletes, and the law school deans or presidents who talk about this. Amusing.

Law.com also had this inspiring article about Vanita Gupta, a young Asian-American attorney, and the progress of her legal career.

And so there you go. Some stuff.