Month: September 2009

September Something

As I noted previously, in a vague way, there is an opening in the 2nd Circuit of the US Court of Appeals, and with Pres. Obama nominating Asian Americans for federal district court… well, at least we can hope around here in the NY area of what made happen for that next level: US Senator Schumer recommended Judge Denny Chin for the promotion. Considering the whole Bernie Madoff case and that Judge Chin has the experience – well, we’ll see!

Gregory H. Williams, President of City College of CUNY, will be leaving to be President of University of Cincinnati. I still have to read his book, “Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black.”

Apparently, Staten Island has more than pizzerias – a look at some cheap and diverse eats across the Verrazano.

A profile of Chinese tennis player Li Na, in the middle of the US Open – and finding that either Queens or Manhattan Chinatowns suit her fine.

Kind of weird to imagine: Disney doing an exhibition of their treasured stuff.

I’m not a Yankee fan, but I think it’s pretty cool that Derek Jeter tied Lou Gehrig’s franchise record.

I managed to watch most of the new episode of the new show “Glee” on FOX – entertaining, and seems to have potential. I do agree with Time’ James Poniewozik – the show seems to have humor and heart – and flaws. As much as I’m amused by Jane Lynch’s cheerleading squad coach character, I’m a little intimidated by her character (she’s quite a comedic actress; I’d hope for her character to be better than a one-dimensional broad caricature); and I do agree with Poniewozik – Jessalyn Gilsig’s character as the wife of Will, the Glee club faculty advisor – well, she was also way too one-dimensional (although, I think they were trying to move past that by the end of the episode – hard to tell) – and she’s an actress who deserves better than that (she made “Heroes” bearable to watch for me, and I watched “Boston Public” because of her time there). And, the OCD teacher (sorry, guidance counselor?) – well, she’s also a touch annoying.

But, I think Will and the Glee kids are sincere and hopeful (if not a little over their heads). We’ll see how this goes; I’ll give them a chance..

Post Labor Day

“Even old New York was once New Amsterdam…” — we’re apparently celebrating the 400th anniversary of Hudson on the river, with the Dutch monarchy in town.

The NY Times on bento boxes.

The president making a speech on telling kids to work hard in school and all that stuff — honestly, it’s either going to bore the kids or inspire them; it’s only the beginning of the school year – and it’s hardly indoctrination of ideology.

Meanwhile, Justice Sotomayor is formally taking her seat on the bench, plus the US Supreme Ct in general is about to face a difficult case with an all-star cast (Theodore Olson, Floyd Abrams, Seth Waxman, and even the new Solicitor General, Elena Kagan, in her first oral argument).

Dare we begin to write in italics, to have a more legible America? Hmm…

As Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker notes: it’s the return of “At the Movies” – with movie critics! A.O. Scott of NY Times and Michael Phillips of Chicago Tribune – the new guys, since the two Bens were ousted (see here on my acknowledging the arrival of the two Bens). Not that there was anything wrong with Ben Mankiewicz (as Tucker noted), but Ben Lyons bore the brunt of the (bad) criticism of his movie criticism ability (he’s not quite like his dad, Jeffrey, apparently; I didn’t hate him, but I didn’t watch the show at all while the Bens were on, so…).

So, thankfully, A.O. Scott and Michael Phillips are At the Movies (considering that they’ve filled in for Ebert when it was the Ebert and Roeper show, they’ve shown they are able folks). I love that the embedded video that Tucker included in his blog, previewing the new show, is all about how Scott and Phillips are Serious Journalists and Longtime Film Critics (totally trying to make up for the whole Ben Lyons thing, no offense intended for the kid, but guess it’s time to find other things to do; I do miss Jeffrey Lyons though).

I watched it an episode this past weekend and it was pretty good, although I’m not sure of their “see it/rent it/skip it” rating (Ebert has the rights to the thumbs up/down thing, so it wasn’t as if they could use it). But, it is great to see Scott and Phillips talking serious (joy or hate) about movies.

I did see “The Time Traveler’s Wife” this weekend; could’ve been a better movie, but was ok. I’ve heard the book was better, but it’s an adaptation; it does what it can do.

Saw “Adam” last week – that was kind of sweet and sad; I think this one and “(500) Days of Summer” are the dark romantic movies of the summer – can’t really say anti-romantic, since they both suggest that it’s better to have loved than to have never loved at all, but they were both bittersweet movies.

Labor Day Weekend!

I wish summer didn’t have to end.

Catching up on reading: Time Magazine on one man’s attempt to stop the tide of suicides in Japan, not a great trend in the middle of a recession.

Hat tip to Angry Asian Man for some great links, namely:

John Cho, in style, Angry Asian Man notes. Not looking like Harold or (New)Sulu at all. Thumbs up!

California gets some more Asian judges and Angry Asian Man profiles one of his readers, a law student at Howard Law, who is a founding member of their APALSA and he’s currently taking a class with Prof. Frank Wu (cool).

US Open and Ramadan – a Pakistani tennis player who tries to be cosmopolitan, religious, and professional all at once.

Jason Bateman profile. He’s come a long way from the 1980’s child acting gigs. Plus, I loved how the article mentions his Valerie/Valerie’s Family/The Hogan Family days (the one tv series with three different titles (and two networks) – an average comedy that somehow managed to stay on the air for a decent run).


Space has a smell. That’s more than I would have figured, since smell involves someone’s brain, via the senses, to detect.


People in NYC read while underground. No kidding.

More on the High Line.

NY Times’ Alessandra Stanley on the anchorwoman trend.

I can’t seem to find a link to an on-line version of the article, but Richard Huff of Daily News reported that Friday’s edition of Channel 11’s 10pm newscast was likely the first time in NYC metro area new that both anchors were Asians, with Arthur Chi’en filling in for Jim Watkins and sitting with Kaity Tong. They even acknowledged it during the news, just before the sports segment (and had otherwise made it just the usual Channel 11 news thing).

I’m confused with Barney and Robin, but that’s ok. Another season of “How I Met Your Mother” to enjoy!

Last but not least; go vote in the US Dept. of Health and Human Services‘ contest on how to prevent flu. The rapping doctor is the New Yorker, as the Daily News reported.