Triscribe

Month: May 2009

  • APA Heritage Month Continues, as do Other Items

    With the historic nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the US Supreme Court, there’s some question as to whether Justice Benjamin Cardozo was actually the first Hispanic justice of the S.Ct.. Personally, I’m of the view that sometimes it depends on how that person identifies his/her racial/ethnic identification. The term “Hispanic,” as the linked NY Times article notes, wasn’t exactly in usage at the time Cardozo was appointed, plus he apparently identified himself more as a secular Sephardic Jew (of Iberian/Portuguese origins).

    Plus, the Slate Explainer article explains how “Hispanic” or “Latino” usually hasn’t included those of Portuguese origins or language speaking. So, I’d posit that Cardozo isn’t/wasn’t the first Hispanic/Latino justice; but Sotomayor might become the first one, if all works out.

    Following up on a previous post, on Wednesday night, I really enjoyed watching “Hollywood Chinese” on “American Masters”. It had fascinating insight from Justin Lin, director (who makes that ironic point that in America, he could be applauded – that clip of Roger Ebert defending Justin Lin‘s “Better Luck Tomorrow” as one Asian-American’s way of presenting a story at the Sundance Film Festival was a great clip – but not quite similarly appraised in Asia – well, that was interesting) actors B.D. Wong, and Nancy Kwan, and others.

    A friend of mine forwarded the info she found on angry asian man.com – the passing of Ronald Takaki. I read Takaki’s “Strangers From a Different Shore” for an Asian American history course back in college, and still have my copy of it somewhere – such great stuff.

    Here’s the press release from UC Berkeley, and Asian Week is putting up statements about Takaki. Poignant that Takaki passes away during APA Heritage Month.

  • History

    And… we’re off! President Obama has nominated Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the US Supreme Court. Best wishes for smooth sailing through confirmation in Congress (as much as can be possible) to Judge Sotomayor! We could have the first Hispanic/Latina in the S.Ct. She’s a New Yorker, too (the Bronx, specifically), who saved baseball from perpetuating that last strike – so pretty darn cool. (well, not to mention other great stuff, like having been a prosecutor and been in private practice, plus attending Princeton and Yale Law).

    Much to read; hopefully I won’t drive myself up the wall with the coverage, as I was during the last bunch of confirmations. Good stuff so far, as Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick observes that it’s rather pointless to go after Judge Sotomayor for being human (therefore has feelings and stuff like that; one would think that we must have androids or Vulcans be Supreme Court justices).

    But recall such fun blog posts regarding past S.Ct. nominees…

    Ex., as in the days of the Alito confirmation, with us having a rather curious future – where you’re not sure who your justice is until a few years pass).

    Let’s not forget the Harriet Miers stuff, much of which wasn’t all that praiseworthy (I mean, really – she was thought of as an “inkblot” – and not in a positive way; come on, she wasn’t that bad; she just wasn’t meant to be a Supreme Court justice).

    Even the Ch.J. Roberts’ confirmation was as close as smooth, with the usual this-is-how-you-prepare stuff.

    By the way – I’m behind on linking this, but Jeffrey Toobin’s article on Ch.J. Roberts’ incrementalism to the right is a must-read. Well-written, but a bit worrisome, depending on your politics.

    Toobin does confirm that we don’t really know what we have with a justice yet (see that theory, above) – but he notes that Judge Sotomayor’s backstory kind of resembles the president who selected her).

    No doubt, Obama’s taking a chance on her – as Slate’s John Dickerson notes, he knew her least of the judges on his list. Time’s Richard Lacayo analyzes Judge Sotomayor’s work in this article, coming down on how she’s seems to be moderate left of center, but on some things, we probably don’t really know.

    But, that’s what makes the US Supreme Ct. so interesting, isn’t it? The odds of things happening in ways we just don’t expect – while kind of being exactly what we expect anyway – if I’m making sense at all.

    Hey, who knows – maybe one day, we could be closer to having an Asian in the US S.Ct? (well, we need some more in the circuit courts, so I guess it’s one step at a time?).

    Anyway, I’m going to keep reading and watching the coverage, since I’m a junkie on this stuff, but maybe I should stay away before things start to upset me (the mainstream media doesn’t seem all that good at making educational and enlightening coverage for lay people, in my opinion).

    Last but not least: North Korea’s getting worrisome; and Slate’s Explainer explains that the US is technically still at war with North Korea (no final peace treaty kind of does mean there’s still something going on between two nations).

  • Stuff

    Newsweek’s “The Gaggle” blog has a correspondent who visited the Baskin Robbins in Hawaii where Pres. Obama had his first job as a kid. Kind of cool to think that, back in the day, the president had a regular after school job like anyone else.

    On Channel 13 at 9pm, on “American Masters” – a presentation of “Hollywood Chinese.” Something to look forward to watching!

    Another PBS thing: the current impact of “Sesame Street” in the day and age where kids’ attention are all over the place.

    Hat tip to the Trek Bulletin Board on TrekNation: Leonard Maltin’s interview with Anton Yelchin, with a question about his portrayal of Chekov from Star Trek – real cool! (I liked how Yelchin played such an adorable and smart Chekov – kind of like how Wesley Crusher from ST:The Next Generation kind of was in his best episodes).

  • Memorial Day Monday

    Hope you took a moment to observe the meaning of Memorial Day.

    Saturday: saw “Angels and Demons” – nothing spectacular, but Tom Hanks as Prof. Robert Langdon is bearable; Stellan Sarsgaard handles himself well; and Ewan McGregor as a hot priest — mmm! Except for the twist that should have been foreseeable, McGregor was good old fashioned fun.

    Sunday: re-watched the Star Trek movie. Still good fun.

    Apparently, Slate’s John Dickerson might be a Star Trek fan. Or at least I liked how he ably analyzed the way Obama approaches “empathy” and further elaborated on the whole “Obama is Spock-like” theory.

    Really great cover article by Time’s Nancy Gibbs and Michael Scherer about Michelle Obama. I liked these lines: “Maybe this is what women watching her covet: not the clothes or the glamour or the glory, but the fact that she seems to be having a blast, in a way Laura Bush and the rest never did. After working hard for 20 years, she gets to take a sabbatical, spend as much time as she wants with her kids, do as many high-impact public events as she chooses and, when it’s all over, have the rest of her life to write the next chapter.”

    Slate presents an alternate universe, where Obama and Friends are on Facebook and posting stuff about those first 100 days. Very funny!

    Time.com asking US Dept. of Energy Secretary Steven Chu questions on US energy policy priorities.

    So… it was only last week that Time.com got on board with this story about how Big Law Firms are deferring the 1st year associates? The rest of us in the industry have known about this for awhile now. Frankly, the deferred ought to count themselves lucky – when I got out of law school, $60k for that first yr in a non-Big Firm job was good thing. Or maybe the mainstream population ought to start getting scared: if salaries for one industry is starting to drop (or be corrected by market forces), then I’m not sure what can happen to everyone else’s salaries.

  • Memorial Day Weekend

    So, not only was Queen Elizabeth the one who received an iPod from Barack Obama (which made Obama the worst gift-giver as a Head of State, since… in all likelihood, from what I’ve read about the queen, she probably already had an iPod), she has also gotten herself a totally special Wii. Man, if Queen Elizabeth also has a Kindle, then she really is a 21st Century person.

    Ok, May’s flying by so quickly and I have to do some APA coverage while it’s still APA Heritage Month. Some items for consideration:

    So, in California, the election to re-fill former Congresswoman Solis’ seat (because Solis is now US Secretary of Labor) will be a Chu v. Chu election. Either way, there’s going to be an Asian-American congresswoman for that district. In fact, this is likely something of a soap opera kind of election, since Betty and Judy Chu are cousins-in-law – not close and pretty much starting their own family feud. Betty’s a lawyer/city councilperson, Judy was a psychologist/state legislator; Betty’s married to Judy’s cousin; Judy’s the Democrat, Betty’s the Republican; and… yadda, yadda, yadda.

    As much as Chu v. Chu election seems like a fascinating political thing, I’m kind of glad I don’t live in California.

    Congratulations to the Jih siblings for winning Amazing Race. A fascinating Q&A with these attractive Asian-Americans lawyers (which, understandably, we of Triscribe may find particularly interesting, since… hey, they’re one of us!).

    Although, really, it is tad unfair that Victor Jih is a partner of a law firm, alumnus of Harvard Law, AND won Amazing Race. At least his sister Tammy is still only an associate.

    Anoop Desai did not last long on “American Idol,” leading to his own Q&A with Entertainment Weekly – so I guess APA’s still haven’t quite made it all the way yet with “American Idol.” But, the winner is Kris Allen won; Adam Lambert is only a runner up (probably a better thing for him in the long run).

    NY Times’ Alessandra Stanley reviews the finale of “American Idol” from the tv critic perspective, while Jon Caramanica provide the music critic analysis. Confession: I really haven’t followed much of the whole season, although I did kind of watched Adam’s cover of “Mad World.” (primarily because I was waiting for “Fringe” – but it was an excellent cover – he does have quite a voice).

    NY1 covering APA Heritage topics (for a week) – with Lewis Dodley on Asian pop – seriously, Lewis Dodley? He’s been the stiff one in the local news media (even back when he was on Channel 13 – I always thought he was a bit waxy – very anchorman-like). Maybe Dodley likes music in real life or Asian culture; or maybe he was assigned to cover this; all in all, interesting stuff.

    Last but not least: Pres. Obama selected the new US Attorneys for Southern District of NY (to you non-lawyers: jurisdiction of Bronx, Manhattan, and downstate upstate) and District of NJ. Bonus for APA Heritage Month: an Asian US Attorney for NY, Preet Bharara.

  • Best Trek Moments and Other Things

    Time.com had an interesting “10 Best Star Trek Moments,” by John Cloud. I more or less agreed on his top 6, but quibbled on the rest (he counted the new Star Trek movie; really? It’s just too soon for me to do that!). Trekkies/Trekkers may debate for a million years over what is the “best” of Trek, while they might agree on some things. Really – at the risk of being a lawyer – I’d say it depends on how you define “best” – but I suppose it goes along the lines of (1) power acting and storytelling; (2) whether the Trek thing is the epitome of ST ideas and themes; (3) whether the Trek thing is memorable; (4) the extent of entertaining; and (5) whether there’s an extent of edification (not always, mind you).

    My personal favorite ST moment will always be Star Trek: The Next Generation’s “Best of Both Worlds,” Parts 1 and 2 – wherein Captain Picard and Crew deal with the Borg threat and Picard becomes Locutus. (what can I say; I grew up on TNG).

    In no particular order, I’d say the following are the best of Star Trek, among the ST shows and movies:

    (1) The Menagerie, Parts 1 and 2 (Star Trek (The Original Series): wherein Kirk and Crew find out what happened to a mission of the past Enterprise Captain, Captain Pike)

    (2) The Trouble with Tribbles (TOS – wherein Kirk and Crew deal with the multiplying furry creatures)

    (3) The City on the Edge of Forever (TOS – wherein Kirk, Spock, and McCoy time-travel and face the issues of friendship and love – while somehow trying not to destroy the space-time continuum)

    (4) Journey to Babel (TOS – wherein Spock has to deal with his parents, while trying to be consistent with what he believes in regarding leadership, duty, and honor).

    (5) Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (the penultimate Trek movie)

    (6) Best of Both Worlds, Parts 1 and 2 (Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) – wherein Picard and Crew face off the Borg)

    (7) Yesterday’s Enterprise (TNG – wherein Picard and Crew are affected by the time changes and the Picard’s priceless line – “Let’s make sure history never forgets the name: ‘Enterprise.’” The line works because it’s Patrick Stewart as Picard).

    (8) The Inner Light (TNG – wherein Picard lives an entirely different life – more a Patrick Stewart vehicle than anything else, but powerful because of what it means to have a life, in the face of the extinction of your world)

    (9) The Chain of Command, Parts 1 and 2 (TNG – wherein Picard and Crew deal with the Cardassians; Part 2 is key for having the horrific torture of Picard – torture is wrong, we learn – and this Slate article notes that this episode has quite a significant impact for that – as Julie Lapidos notes, “The Next Generation take is darker and more politically progressive: Torture is counterproductive for the interrogator and devastating—both physically and emotionally—for the subject. It makes one wonder it is still practiced.”).

    (10) Star Trek: First Contact (TNG movie – wherein Picard and Crew face off the Borg from preventing Human-Vulcan first contact and the invention of warp speed travel).

    (11) In the Pale Moonlight (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) – wherein Sisko struggles to not give up his ideals in the face of the war)

    (12) Far Beyond the Stars (DS9 – wherein Sisko is in the place of Benny Russell, an African-American sci-fi writer of the 1950’s, who dreams of a better future called Star Trek)

    (13) Year of Hell, Parts 1 and 2 (VOY – wherein Janeway and Crew face a year of adversity – and a time meddler tries to reconcile what he has been doing)

    (14) The Forge/Awakening/Kir’Shara (Star Trek: Enterprise – the Vulcan arc trilogy)

    (15) Star Trek VI (the latter half of the movie, anyway, where Kirk and the crew learn to overcome their biases about the Klingons).

    Honorable mentions:
    Trials and Tribble-ations (DS9 – wherein Sisko and Crew travel back in time and find themselves in the middle of Kirk’s tribble mess)

    Timeless (Star Trek: Voyager (VOY) – wherein Janeway and Crew’s present and once future are impacted by Harry Kim’s time-meddling)

    United (ST: Enterprise – wherein Archer helps lay the future of the Federation, ST’s way of bringing species together for a common cause)

    At least, this is what I’d consider the best of Trek moments. Just my opinion.

    The season finales of “Fringe” and “Lost” were entertaining, but mind-boggling. Most of “Fringe” wasn’t all that surprising, but the end was touching for me (it might have bothered some people, but the idea of an alternate universe can be bothersome). “Lost” … well, suffice it to say that I’d like to know who/what the heck is Richard Alpert, and how is he associated or fit in this so-called battle of good versus evil (or Hope vs. Futility, or whatever Jacob and his Opposition are supposed to represent).

    The next posting is where I’ll actually have to talk about some APA related topics.

  • Star Trek and my blog

    With the new Star Trek movie the amount of hits daily to my blog went up 4-5 times.  Apparently people were clicking on one of my pictures where I was comparing Star Trek with successful IT people. Funny really, I’d never have thought that before.

    Anyways, it’s nice to be back blogging there although I know that my blog stats are artificially inflated.  On the other hand, an out-of-work CIO from NYC put me on his blogroll after finding me (not sure where).  I feel bad for him somehow.  It’s about “branding” now I guess.  Don’t know but will try it out too.

    New cool toy I found on The Pogue’s column: MIFI — Wi-Fi to Go, No Cafe Needed.  Looks great to try out in my field force.  Luckily they’ve got in HK, TW, CN markets.  I’ll have to get someone to look into it and what we can do to increase connectivity and information sharing with our back-end systems.

    Back to the grind …

    Then off to Taipei and KL again.

  • TGIF, or TGFST

    (Thank God for Star Trek). Spoiler free commentary ahead. Plus stuff about comic strips that I read.

    I’m not big on prequels, but I could forgive a reboot if it is a good reboot – see the examples of Batman (“Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”) and James Bond (“Casino Royale” and “Quantum of Solace“) Some reboot attempts are just not that good in my opinion (I’m talking about you, new Superman).

    And, since the end of “Star Trek: Enterprise,” where I was both angry and sad yet mildly entertained but frustrated yet ready to say goodbye and yet… Okay, much mixed feelings… And, after a long break from Trek (when even Trek stuff was sold off and how I got tired jjust thinking about how romances kept getting botched in the Trekiverse): I thought I was really ready for a reboot. Maybe.

    I had my doubts.

    But, this is Star Trek. And, I am a Trekkie.

    Yes, I saw the new Star Trek movie. It was good. Really good. Good for Trekkies and non-Trekkies. Why on earth would I have my doubts (way back when…)? This is, after all, J.J. Abrams and Friends, as I have said over and over – they are behind “Alias,” “Lost,” and “Fringe” – stuff I loved and watched, even if they irritate and drive me crazy for being twisted and not entirely desirable sometimes.

    Ultimately, I’m pretty blown away by how good the Star Trek movie was; I now accept a reboot (well, more or less; we will always have 40 years of ST as it is and was; that can never be taken away from us). Kirk and Crew are as enjoyable as ever – I wanted to hug Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, and Scotty. I enjoyed Captain Pike. I even missed such recurring characters as Nurse Chapel and Lt. Riley – even Pike’s old Number One (Majel Barrett Roddenberry, who later became Nurse Chapel and forever was the voice of the Enterprise computer) (I didn’t miss Lt. Rand, though; sorry, she didn’t quite fit in the whole schema of rejuvenated ST for me – yet). I wanted to cry, I laughed, and so on – it’s a good movie.

    I worship at the altar of J.J. Abrams and Friends. I might dare to see the Star Trek movie again! (umm, who’s with me? Anyone up for it?).

    I will avoid spoilers. I will say: go see the Star Trek movie! Enlist in Starfleet! (only, it’s not real).

    Otherwise, I will gear up for the upcoming season finales of J.J. Abrams and Friends’ tv shows “Lost” and “Fringe.”

    Meanwhile… in comic strip land… Mary Worth‘s boyfriend, Dr. Jeff Corey, is trying to help his daughter, a divorced doctor, recover from finding out that her fiance is a con artist who was only trying to marry her to get money from her. Frankly, after all that silliness, I won’t be surprised if Adrian starts dating the cop who arrested the grifter fiance…

    who might as well come before Judge Randy Parker (see “Judge Parker,” comic strip), who took forever to win his judicial election. He’s in the middle of judging a Bernie Madoff-like character and one of the Madoff-like character’s victims is threatening to kill the Madoff-like character and tells Randy this, when Randy’s having lunch with his ex-law firm partner, Sam Driver. Umm, Victim: you don’t tell the judge that you’re going to go be a vigilante. That’s just not a good idea.

    Funny thing though: “Judge Parker” is actually touching on a legal dilemma (or not so much of a dilemma – Randy doesn’t exactly have a choice in not reporting the crazy nut guy; you don’t want possible violence in your courtroom, not when you’re a rookie judge). Still – this is something right out of “Law and Order.” Hilarious!

    Maybe Randy shouldn’t be too scared though – worse comes to worse, his ex-CIA love interest – who’s back in town – could protect him.

    Sometimes I wonder if I should find new things to fascinate me – it’s silly that I enjoy the odd soapy comic strips or the weird tv shows. And, then I remember: I am a Trekkie. Trek rules.

  • Countdown to “Enlist in Starfleet”

    I’m kind of amazed that there’s no huge billboard somewhere saying “Enlist in Starfleet,” in big bold letters and the accompanying Federation symbol, to get drooling and crazed Trekkies/Trekkers ready for the Star Trek movie on Friday. I mean, just listening to the commercials and trailers – wherein Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) tell young (and idiotic) Kirk (Chris Pine in bloody makeup after silly bar fight) to “Enlist in Starfleet” and make something of himself already – well, it kind of made me say, “Yes, sir, Captain Pike. I’ll enlist!”

    “Fringe” had all those hints about the Trek movie, since J.J. Abrams and friends are The Powers That Be behind these vehicles.

    “Lost” – I’m so confused. And, by the way, where was the Trek reference? (besides the whole time-traveling-is-confusing theme; there are probably too many Trek episodes that covered that). Oh, and I think Richard should reveal things soon; like, before more calamity will strike down on our favorite Losties. I see him as sort of a Merlin character – you think he’s helping you, but are you sure and are you really learning anything from him? And, John and Jack – be careful before you cause calamity.

    “Law and Order” – finally – Exec. ADA Cutter’s finally won a couple of cases (or at least is sending a bunch of icky people to jail). The firefighters union of L&O’s Alternate Universe NYC might very well regret endorsing DA McCoy – this whole election thing is getting interesting (it doesn’t hurt that it’s coinciding with what might be a competitive campaign for NY County DA in Real New York). Watching the law scenes make me wish I were simply watching a show called “Law,” since McCoy’s really grappling with being a politician and not merely prosecutor (the other shoe hitting the floor for Jack, since it wasn’t that long ago that he was in Cutter’s position) and one of these days, they ought to give a nice closing speech for Cutter to do (or for Connie Rubirosa). And, while Det. Lupo is turning into a cutie when he’s Indignant Cop, I think he’d be a pretty cool lawyer (hmm… would he want to be a prosecutor? Would he rather be a defense side? Or is he planning to use the future law degree for other uses?).

    NBC should renew L&O; sad enough they’re not renewing “Life,” and renewing the other L&O franchises (which don’t nearly interest me very much).

    John Cho (aka Harold; aka new Sulu) was on The Tonight Show Wednesday night. I liked how Jay Leno asked Cho about Kal Penn (aka Kumar; aka the late Dr. Kutner of “House,” where Cho was once a rather silly patient). Plus, will the character of Sulu ever do anything other than fencing? (and, no, don’t go into asking whether he’ll be the botanist or pilot or physicist; Trekkies/Trekkers already know about that).

    Meanwhile, Korean-Americans are vying for the City Council seat in Queens.

    I mention the foregoing because they seemed like cool stuff to note – not just because it’s APA Heritage Month. But, heck, that’s all dandy.

    The renovations to the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art look really interesting.

    Oh Craig Ferguson – you and your puppets are too funny.

    Last but not least: the passing of actor Dom Deluise. They really don’t make comic actors like him anymore.

  • May Weekend

    Some words from YC.

    So, it’s apparently true – J. Souter’s retiring, giving the president the task of picking a person (not an easy task, considering the various options and considerations) and planning to go home to New Hampshire.

    Tons of interesting reading material out there: Kermit Roosevelt, former Souter clerk, on Souter. I liked Dahlia Lithwick’s analysis on Souter. Linda Greenhouse also puts two cents on Souter. I do tend to think of him as the man we keep underestimating.

    In an alternative universe, I think Pres. Obama could be on the US Supreme Court (or maybe in a distant future? Hey, it happened to Pres. (and Ch. J.) Taft!). At any rate, as David Brooks noted on Friday’s Lehrer Newshour, noted, “This is something we’re actually used to, and it will probably unfold in a pretty predictable way,” i.e., that at least S.Ct. selections are something we’re awfully familiar with (the controversies, the debates and ultimate confirmations). I think that it’s pretty cool that this time, it’s a Constitutional Law prof who’s doing the selection and that he knows so much about the process and the substance.

    Speaking of selections, Alma Mater’s Engineering School has selected a new dean – a man of Dominican ancestry and an MIT alumnus.

    Lessons about the flu: NYC’s health commissioner’s having a cool head saved us in 1918. NY Times’ Jim Dwyer on how ignorance and bigotry are the side of effects of the H1N1 flu – no doubt about that; that was the first thing that came to my mind when the news broke about something we knew so little about. I do wonder whether we New Yorkers are losing our ability to be rational – but then again, law school kind of taught us that the idea of a rational person is just that – an idea.

    Meanwhile Slate reminds us about how soap – even a dirty bar of soap – is useful stuff, and how those masks aren’t that useful (that’s right – it just doesn’t do all that much good, so how reasonable is it to walk around with those masks on anyway?) – stuff we should have learned from SARS in the first place. NY Times’ Elizabeth Rosenthal also recalls the same her experience with SARS about the ineffectiveness of masks and the better use of hand-washing and just walking away from people with symptoms.

    I completely forgot it was Law Day on May 1 – the day to celebrate rule of law (not lawyers).

    May 1 was also the first day of the summer blockbusters, with “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” A Slate article to explain the fascination with Wolverine; oh, and he’s Canadian (well, a certain kind of Canadian – apparently, not the East Coast liberal Canadian, but probably more like West Coast libertarian Canadian; he sure never seemed to have the Canadian accent in the cartoons though).

    And, cherry blossoms in Brooklyn (sadly, I missed the festival this year, but the pictures on the NY Times website are lovely).

    And with May, it’s APA Heritage Month. PBS/Channel 13 has been putting up its schedule for APA items for viewing. May 3, 2009, was the 30th APA Heritage Festival – unfortunately, the rainy weather made it less than fun, but the show went on. Henry Chang, writer of the Detective Jack Yu series, was there and I said hello (coincidentally, I had finished reading Year of the Dog, sequel to Chinatown Beat, last week; I had read Chinatown Beat some time last year; the series is good stuff).

    In case you were wondering what happened to those “Top Chef” contestants, NY Times checks out what happened to some of them who are in the NY metro area.

    An interesting FYI column in the Sunday Times’ City Section – about the “Essex” sign and how it’s been grandfathered in despite its – uh – garishness.

    Good stuff in Time Out New York’s Great Walks issue – even a Staten Island walk. Now, if only I actually would be doing these walks…

    Last but not least: the passing Jack Kemp; they don’t make Republicans quite like him anymore.