Saturday: Brooklyn Botanic Garden – cherry blossoms! A NYC Rite of Spring, (or “Sakura Matsuri,” sakura – cherry blossom, apparently).
The birthday of “spam” (which pisses Spam ™ just as much if not the rest of us; plus Spam has a creepy website – man, I liked Spam growing up, and it did save and feed the world during World War II and all that, but could you not use irritating music on your website?).
The Elder vs. The Young Upstart… Russert vs. Stephanopoulos. I’m kind of fascinated that George Stephanopoulos seems to be settling in as this Sunday morning guy. I like it best when he does politics, still unsure of what to make of him as a journalist. He was interesting as a pundit, maturing as a round table facilitator. Russert is… still Russert. He can be too prosecutorial, but that’s supposed to be part of the fun of watching him.
Stuff on Google vs. Stuff on Facebook. Can’t Google and Facebook just get along? Can you co-exist? … Why the heck not?
An overdue restoration project: cleaning up Atlas, Promotheus’ brother… the statue at Rockefeller Center, that is, not just in Greek mythology.
NY Times movie critic Manohla Dargis on the lack of women in substantial roles in the upcoming summer blockbusters. She closes with her observation: “In 2008, when a white woman and a black man are running for president and attracting unprecedented numbers of voters partly because they are giving a face to the wildly under-represented, you might think that Hollywood would get a clue. [beat] Nah.”
Profile of actor Adhir Kalyan, on the CW series, “Aliens in America.” Kalyan is an actor of South Asian descent – but, even more interesting, he grew up in South Africa, of the first post-apartheid generation. The article touches on being Asian in a place that’s not really Asia – being a minority – being an actor of color, and how you develop this thing called a career. Good stuff! Plus, “Aliens in America” is a funny and sweet series. Such a shame that it gets almost no attention because it’s on CW and not on a major network.
The APA Heritage Festival is on May 10, 2008, at the Dag Hammerskjold Plaza.
Oh, and don’t forget Mother’s Day, next Sunday!