Month: May 2008

Take a moment to think about the men and women who died serving this country.

Saturday: a mild cold has me with a sore throat and barely much of a voice; but went out to see “Iron Man” at the Prospect Park Pavilion. Fun movie! Robert Downey, Jr., uses his talent for good, not evil (much as his character Tony Stark, learns to become a superhero). Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Stark’s executive assistant; Jeff Bridges as Obidiah Stane; and Terrence Howard as Col. “Rhodey” Rhodes – they were all quite good.

And, yes, you must stay and watch what comes after the credits – a possible hint of what an Iron Man sequel may bring.

Amusingly, the movie came after the trailer for the Batman movie sequel, “The Dark Knight.” Hmm! Different franchises (DC vs. Marvel), but the pairing was fascinating!

For your consideration, see: on YouTube: ItJustSomeRandomGuy has his parody of the PC/Mac commercials, with Batman and Iron Man understanding and appreciating their commonalities and differences (playboy billionaire superheroes with kickass summer movies). I’m embedding Parts 1 and 2 – too funny! Highly recommended!

NY Times continues to gather more details of the China earthquake, and less so the Burmese cyclone (not for lack of trying). Just the concept of this one-two punch is hard enough to get anyone’s mind around, and we’re still recovering from our disasters. To see both the big picture and that every individual life is special is something that we need to to be reminded of daily. A lesson easier learned for some than others – that they should do something, anything.

(Numbers from Wikipedia as of today)

9/11: 2,974 killed – 24 missing

2004 earthquake/tsunami: 283,100 killed, 14,100 missing

Katrina: 1,836 killed, 705 missing

Burma cyclone: 80,000 dead, 56,000 missing

Sichuan earthquake: 60,560 dead,  352,290 injured, 26,221missing

Hopes and prayers to Senator Edward Kennedy. This NY Times article by Carl Hulse was a touching article about the reactions to the news of his illness, and the appreciation of his legacy. He may not be perfect (no one is), but he has such a role in history (and the present) – there won’t be another senator quite like him.

Reuse, recycle, and reduce. If we start with colleges, we should move forward to spreading it to everyone else (see the linked NY Times article on NYU’s RRR plan for the students moving out at this time of year).

Monday tv: I watched “Miracles,” the season finale of “How I Met Your Mother” — funny, sweet, “what?!” — thank you, CBS, for renewing this heartwarming, funny, insane show! As noted in the TV Guide HIMYM blog, James Poniewozik’s blog on Time.com, and greatly detailed by the HIMYM blog on Television Without Pity, there were miracles (Marshall managing not to return to his Big Law Firm despite his begging – due to… lice – but then getting to avoid the inevitable firm bloodletting, since the firm was going to be indicted by the SEC; Ted survives a scary car accident without a scratch; Barney survives being hit by a… city bus; Barney and Ted – bros again!!), funny lines (Canadian Robin’s line: “I love Springsteen; he’s like the American Bryan Adams!” — okay, it was in the delivery of the line; Barney poses the date-time continuum theory – you apparently cannot plan plans with a date so far in advance that it’s longer than the length of time in which you’ve been dating each other); and the end – umm, somehow Ted proposes to Stella (I just don’t think she’s the Mother of FutureTed’s kids) and Barney’s look of love at Robin… priceless.

So looking forward to even watching reruns of HIMYM.

NY Times’ Bob Herbert is right – the candidates and Americans in general have to get serious:

The general election is about to unfold and we’ll soon see how smart or how foolish Americans really are. The U.S. may be the richest country on earth, but the economy is tanking, its working families are in trouble, it is bogged down in a multitrillion-dollar war of its own making and the price of gasoline has nitwits siphoning supplies from the cars and trucks of strangers.

Four of every five Americans want the country to move in a different direction, which makes this presidential election, potentially, one of the most pivotal since World War II.

And yet there’s growing evidence that despite the plethora of important issues, the election may yet be undermined by the usual madness — fear-mongering, bogus arguments over who really loves America, race-baiting, gay-baiting (Ohmigod! They’re getting married!) and the wholesale trivialization of matters that are not just important, but extremely complex. [….]

For once, let the election be serious. Show the hacks and the hypocrites the door. Argue substance. And then let the people decide.

From NY Times’ City Room blog: a story on St. Peter’s Church, a NYC landmark, near the Woolworth building and a stone’s throw away from the World Trade Center. Nice photo, by the way.

Really cool opportunity to evaluate photos submitted to the Brooklyn Museum and help curate an exhibit; a fascinating way to participate in an experiment on the nexus of art, on-line community, and crowd theory. Check it out – assessing photos ends by some time tomorrow and the exhibit is in the summer.

Open Call Begins March 1
www.brooklynmuseum.org/click

Enjoy what’s left of the APA Heritage Month events.

Plus, May 28-June 1: World Science Festival, all over the city.

Last, but not least: it’s the 125th Anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge. NY Times City Room blog with great post on the events (by Jennifer 8. Lee).

Less than 144 days left to the Big Day… sent the Save the Date cards to the printer; hopefully finish the invite design and vetting the Chinese text this week.

Got P- Madonna tickets from the Citibank presale – it’s the Monday before the wedding at MSG.

Spent the day at home with a upset tummy – too much late night snacking.

Kristi Yamaguchi wins Dancing with the Stars – a woman has not won for the last 5 seasons, and joins only two other APA reality show winners: Yul Kwon from Survivor,  and Dorothy Hui from The Mole 2. Speaking of which, The Mole returns to ABC on June 2 (sans Anderson Cooper, though).

Asian Heritage Month continues — Taiwan this Sunday at Union Square; the Philipines on June 2.

Saturday – spring! It was sunny and pleasant today in NYC.

Saturday – Mets win, 7-4, against the Yankees. Now if only they can be consistent. (I watched the last couple of innings on the big screen HDtv. Quite something.)

OhmiGod – Slate did it – a special issue on procrastination! Dare I read it right away, or put it off for later… 😉 I, the self-proclaimed Duchess of Procrastination, say no! No, I must read. Yeah, eventually…

Plus, reading this Slate article by Dahlia Lithwick and Emily Bazelon – about the military lawyers who have tried to make the Guantanamo military trials procedures (or standing up over how they don’t work) – made me feel proud to be a lawyer. The article even almost reaffirmed my belief that there is still such a thing as rule of law, the very concept that we’re supposed to be protecting from terrorism (in addition to, of course, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness).

I remember when PBS’ “Mystery!” was its own series; now it’s covered under the Masterpiece rubric. Well, at least they’ve a host again – this time Alan Cumming! (okay, not exactly Vincent Price or Diana Rigg) – but “Masterpiece Mystery!” will bring the return of Inspector Lewis (well, he did get promoted after Inspector Morse’s passing), and more episodes of Inspectors Foyle and Lynley; guess my summer tv viewing’s kind of set.

Science section of NY Times has this fascinating Q and A with Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa – and it’s quite a great story about how he, a former illegal immigrant, became a Harvard trained neurosurgeon. I don’t have concrete thoughts on the state of immigration, but sometimes I wonder if society forgets the values of immigration and how we should keep an open mind about how we handle it (or rather, handle it effectively).

Interesting NY Times article on the Chinese media’s coverage of the earthquake in Chengdu. I do wonder: could the earthquake change China (or more appropriately, how)? Or, at least, how the media (inside and outside) China can report or depict China?

Oh, and some thoughts on recent tv stuff —
–> watched most of “CSI: NY” – I don’t nearly follow this show as much as I’d like, but I do think NYC looks great every time on this show – the cinematography! The plot got silly (cabbie serial killer; NY’ers refusing to take a cab because of the situation — you’ve got to be kidding me?). Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise – great actor!) – got irritated when his more-or-less stepson Reed posted blog postings about the serial killer (which the kid defended as his job as a journalist). The relationship between Mac and Reed is a bit unusual – Reed’s the biological son of Mac’s late wife, who had given the kid up for adoption long before she ever met Mac – but I think it’s nice to give Mac a little emotional element.

Reed got kidnapped by the serial killer, and then when the killer forces him to blog on the drama of yet another dead victim, Reed cleverly inserts clues in the blog to have Mac and the CSI team save him and lead to catching the killer. Why wasn’t Reed’s (legal) parents at the hospital with Mac, who knows, but it was a sweet moment. It was also funny to see Mac snap over how all the technology within reach couldn’t lead to the killer (no, Mac, ultimately, you as a detective ought to put the clues together and come up with something – but, he figured it out).

I’ve always liked the chemistry between Mac and Stella (Melina Kanakaredes) – good friends indeed.

“Grey’s Anatomy” – hmmm. Is Meredith serious about getting therapy? Will Rose the nurse realize that Derek is so not relationship ready? Nice to see Mark finally acting like a doctor and maybe growing up (plastic surgeon who acts like an over grown teenager… no, really?). I so don’t want Miranda Bailey’s marriage to be over; this show needs someone stable. Christina and Meredith – both in their dark places.

“Lost” – well, that was interesting. More time shifting, as we get closer to the near future. NearFuture Jack does learn about Claire’s identity as his half-sister; we still don’t quite know how the Oceanic 6 became the 6 who got home, but it’ll be interesting – the machinations are starting to feel quite mechanical, but fun.

I don’t eat a whole lot of dairy (that lactose intolerance thing) but I love ice cream, and Haagen-Dazs has too neato things this week. First, Green Tea flavor is now available in the U.S.!!!!  We first encountered it in Tokyo, where it was a gazillion times more rich and intense than the stuff you get at Japanese-American sushi restaurants. P- actually wrote the company to put it out, and they’ve finally done it.

Second, Tuesday is free Vanilla Honey Bee flavor day – free scoops from 4 to 8 PM. Profits from the flavor go towards protecting the honey bee, which makes possible agriculture as we know it today.

Thursday TV: “Lost” – somehow, it almost never ceases to amaze me how this show simultaneously raises more questions even as it (kind of) answers them. I haven’t been an avid follower of “Lost” by any stretch of the imagination (I think I skipped a good chunk of last season and the season before that). But, this season has been pretty awesome (“Heroes” ought to take note of how to balance characters and storylines – learn from “Lost”!). Some pointless thoughts:

Actor Nestor Carbonell as the ageless Richard Alpert – mmm! He’s hot and he’s creepy! (well, the character anyway; the actor’s simply hot – although I still remember him from his “Suddenly Susan” days, when he played the silly accented photographer guy – but, he was funny and cute – a case can be made that everybody but the Susan character was funny; so not exactly a good thing for Brooke Shields when your supporting cast was more interesting than your character…).

Actor Terry O’Quinn as John Locke – is he a man of faith or of science? A premature baby whose life of repeated abandonment got really depressing. A man of destiny – or not? When Alpert appears to young John with artifacts, young John is told to pick what is his; he selects the knife. The scene felt like something reminiscent to me of the story of how the young Dalai Lama was discovered as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama – and so, I wonder – is John Locke a reincarnation of someone/something else?

Well, really, what the heck is going on with “Lost”?

Saturday stuff: CAPA Festival. Different venue, but interesting; FC has the review. Plus, with the Japan Society across the street, great opportunity to check out more stuff. I liked the exhibit of Shibata Zeshin’s lacquered art.

Such a sad story on the state of Brooklyn high schools – Lafayette HS’s transformation may affect John Dewey HS; Lafayette’s situation becoming horridly untenable. It didn’t use to be this way, and it wasn’t that long ago that I was in high school (okay, yeah, it is a long time ago, but still —) – I didn’t think it was that bad at Lafayette or John Dewey when I was in high school; nobody hated the schools to this extent; are kids that nuts because parents are so not helping? What is really the state of education in NYC?

Furthermore, with the state of (quality) education in NYC – they’re just not building new schools fast enough, and they’re simply not taking demographics into serious consideration, are they?

In the latest issue of Time: fascinating 10 answers to the 10 questions to Toni Morrison.

Gee, this is a great review of Bill Moyers’ new book; I so want to read the book now. Well, Moyers is a good read and good watch either way.

The problem with a famous trademark – people are going to try to counterfeit it and ruin the value of it… “I Love NY” is too easy to exploit on top of that.

IKEA coming to Brooklyn; this is either going to be very good or a very big disaster.

NY Times’ Eric Asimov on a closing of a Chinatown institution.

Finished reading: P.D. James’ “A Certain Justice,” wherein Venetia Aldridge, a criminal defense barrister, is murdered in her chambers. Commander Adam Dagliesh, Inspector Kate Miskin, and the others of Scotland Yard, are on the case. Thoughts: What a compelling read – a page turner. Lots of food for thought – what is “a certain justice”? What does it mean to be a criminal defense lawyer; what does it mean to be a human being? Did Commander Dalgliesh do the right thing? The ending was a bit strange and probably not entirely satisfactory (depends on what you’re looking for – closure? hmmm), but P.D. James is a good writer. A recommended read.

Monday’s “How I Met Your Mother” — Barney seeks a rebound Bro, in the aftermath of his break up with the ex-Bro, Ted. Actor Will Forte (of “Saturday Night Live”) plays the pathetic rebound Bro. Ted claims he’s not mad at Barney; he’s outgrown him. (be that as it may, methinks Ted is still mad at Barney; if you really outgrew him, you would have made a gradual break even before the breakup). Robin tries to help Barney (hmm, why? even if he allegedly has a blackmail video, isn’t she really doing that out of the goodness of her own heart? Meanwhile, yes, Barney, you can’t ask Marshall to be your wingman, since he’s married to Lily).

It was not one of the more hilarious episodes of HIMYM, but it does move forward in the curious life of Ted. Are we any closer to finding out the Mother of FutureTed’s kids? Umm, I don’t think so. But, it is a bit illuminating in the life and character of Ted and that of the anti-Ted, Barney.

NY Times article on the vanishing local neighborhood supermarket. It is a concern when you can no longer walk to buy fresh food. What happened to the Key Foods? Bodegas aren’t quite the answer, and it’s a bit much to ask of the elderly and poor to take the bus to the Pathmark or Shop Rite a mile or two away. The re-zoning regs and real estate market aren’t encouraging the diversity of commerce here.

NY Times’ Mark “The Minimalist” Bittman with a crustless quiche recipe. His on-line video made it look like kind of a savory souffle. Mmm, melted cheese…

Wednesday: David Hinckley in the Daily News gave a positive review of the “American Masters” documentary on singer Marvin Gaye. I watched it and agreed – really moving stuff, and good music. The news that actor Jesse L. Martin is playing Marvin Gaye in a biopic – well, isn’t it exciting? (Martin was great on the movie version of “Rent”). After watching the documentary, I can see this could be quite the movie.

Platypus (platypi?) are not only weird physically, but genetically weird too – proof of evolution, regarding how the mammals got rid of various traits.

The headline says it – “NBC to Start News Channel in NY” – basically, trying to make an NBC version of NY1 and “The plan, which will de-emphasize the identity of the network flagship, WNBC, could spread to other stations.” — And thus a network is trying to fix news or fix its flagship station. Look, I know that Channel 4’s been having a tough time and all, but I’m wary of too much change. What’s going to happen to the WNBC 4 news people? Change for the sake of change isn’t good in and of itself. Plus, NY1 works because it started small and worked its way up; how something larger can cut itself down… that’s something else entirely…

The passing of Mildred Loving, of the landmark US S.Ct. case, Loving v. Virginia, ending laws laws against interracial marriage.

The passing of Robbins of Baskin-Robbins ice cream.