Triscribe

Month: May 2011

  • More APA Items and What’s with the Law?

    Follow up on the Goodwin Liu nomination (see previous post here) and it’s unfortunate news: as Dahlia Lithwick over at Slate reports, Goodwin Liu has withdrawn his nomination for the 9th Circuit. The number of Asian Pacific American active federal appellate judges will remain just one. Pardon me as I say that just sucks.

    See also NAPABA’s press release on the subject: “NAPABA Disappointed by Withdrawal of Nomination by Professor Liu, Praises Liu for His Courage.”

    Meanwhile, the legal industry is getting some attention on how it does business: this NY Times article by Catherine Rampell, available via Yahoo notes that a non-partnership track in big firms are possibly good for work/life balance, and is sort of like outsourcing – but a perception that it’s a “second class” track can’t quite be ignored. (then again, public service attorneys earning $60k/year are not considered badly off; it’s more of a private sector thing – who would feel a little weird to not make the kind of big money in the big firm, just because you’re not on the same track as others in the big firm?).

    Interesting videos available via WLIW Channel 21: The Asian Indians in America and The Chinese Americans. They’re both more celebratory type of videos (sure, go ahead, celebrate those model minorities with their great work ethic, family values, and diverse cultures), but have some pretty fascinating talking heads giving their insights about being Asian Indian and Chinese in America. Guess we all need some positivity out there for the moment.

  • More APA Heritage Month Stuff

    Over at wnyc radio: on why NYS has no South Asian elected officials – maybe it is a matter of time. Listen also below, the embed of the audio:

    NY1.com has its APA Heritage coverage – for a week… – still, interesting things:

    A profile of Corky Lee, the photographer of the NYC APA community.

    And, coverage about APA’s in films – and how much progress/lack thereof there has been.

  • Ken Jeong on Conan O’Brien

    Hmmm. So, Ken Jeong is promoting “The Hangover II” over on Conan O’Brien’s show, and he does the mind-boggling Dr. Jeong vs. In-Character Weirdo thing. Oh dear. I guess it’s good that he has his other job as his fall back…

  • APA Heritage Month Still Continues

    Because it’s Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and the topic is pretty fascinating: check out this post from Angry Asian Man’s blog about Asians and Asian imagery in comics, which also concerns a fascinating article in the SF Gate by Jeff Yang and a fascinating exhibit/event at NYU’s A/P/A Institute on the subject.

    (cross-posted on sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)

  • And Over at the US Senate…

    Per NAPABA: the U.S. Senate failed to pass a cloture vote on judicial nominee Professor Goodwin Liu.  No up or down vote; continued filibustering.

    Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick on today’s mess in the Senate. She’s so on point about the hypocrisy.

    I get that the Republicans don’t like Liu; just vote straight up or down, rather than be hypocrites about this. I mean, really – the Republicans were upset that he was mean about the nomination of Justice Alito?  As if mere meanness meant that Liu couldn’t be an appellate judge.  And, please don’t tell me that he has no experience.  I eye-roll about how a law professor who has been a Rhodes Scholar isn’t qualified to be an appeals court judge.

    Nina Totenberg of NPR reports that Liu is likely to withdraw, since he has been at this for over a year now.

  • What’s Really On TV?

    On cable: I watched a rerun of “Law and Order” – and found that I still mildly enjoyed the episode.  It was the episode where Lara Flynn Boyle as Irritating Reporter and Linus Roach as ADA Cutter used each other (and Cutter was hot while Detective Lupo was sweet, and gosh do I miss Detective Green).

    Check out the post at Time.com by James Poniewozik about the CBS previews.  When it comes to dramas, I really don’t get into CBS dramas (gave up the CSI’s and the NCIS’s; would like to watch The Mentalist and Hawaii 5-O, but never really get around to it; never got into Criminal Minds).

    But, the previews for two new CBS shows actually looked intriguing to me:

    Person of Interest – brought to you by the Exec. Producer J.J. Abrams, and starring Michael Emerson (the ex-Ben Linus of “Lost”) and Jim Caviezel (yeah, guess I’ll wind up being a sucker for yet another Abrams show).  Creepy Emerson who retains Caviezel to be a vigilante; they’re sort of an Odd Couple of crimefighting, as the brains and the brawn.  Hmm…

    A Gifted Man – starring Patrick Wilson as a surgeon whose ex-wife – played by Jennifer Ehle (best known to me for “Pride and Prejudice” with Colin Firth), has died but comes back to him as a ghost (or a hallucination) to have him take over her medical clinic for poor people.

    But… the thing with intriguing previews is whether the series itself would work as series.  We’ll see…

    Not on tv, but… found this link from wnyc’s tumblr blog: CDC is getting us ready on what to do with when a zombie apocalypse arises. I’ll give CDC credit for being creative to get us thinking about emergency preparedness and all that. Also, I’m thinking that the world won’t come to an end this weekend. Who’s with me on this?

  • Other Items

    It’s that time again: previews for the 2011-2011 tv season.  Check out James Poniewozik’s post at Time.com about NBC previews, which, after checking them on-line at nbc.com, strangely intrigue me.  But, that’s the trouble of previews – they’re just previews.

    Poniewozik’s analysis of NBC’s previews also hits on some of my concerns (besides the whole Donald Trump’s-only-out-for-Trump business).

    For instance, as much as Maria Bello is fascinating as Detective Jane Timoney in the American network version of “Prime Suspect” in contemporary NYC, I’m a little disturbed.

    So, there’s a name change.  Ok.  And American Jane brandishes a gun, which the original British Detective Inspector (later Superintendent) Jane Tennison  – as played by Helen Mirren – wouldn’t really do that (well, because it’s more of a British thing).  And, Bello as Jane – in the preview anyway – isn’t nearly as self-destructive as Mirren as Jane (Jane Tennison kept failing with men; it got too sad to watch.  Actually, I fell so behind on watching “Prime Suspect,” so perhaps I shouldn’t say what was sad about Tennison).

    And, I’m not saying that a NYPD homicide unit isn’t sexist – it might very well be; but is it so masculine as to hate women in their midst, when it’s 2011?  Why wouldn’t the men mask their bastard behavior just a bit more? (as if we hadn’t learned anything from years of “Law and Order” and “NYPD Blue”).

    And, it’s really weird to see Kirk Acevedo in the “Prime Suspect” preview, because he was so recently Alternate Charlie on “Fringe” and, seeing him with the blonde Bello – well, it does look an awful lot like a redux of Charlie and Olivia from the first season of “Fringe.”

    And, if “Prime Suspect” gets picked up for a full season, will/can Acevedo still make a guest appearance on “Fringe” as Alternate Charlie (or even a non-dead Charlie, because time-traveling is a bitch, after all?).  I’d hate for Acevedo to lose a chance at weird tv. And, according to his profile on imdb.com, he’s part Chinese, so I’m all for representation and diversity on tv.

    “Grimm” could have been more interesting in its preview about a series of a modern day cop who finds out that he’s from a long line of Grimms, people who fight (were)wolves (and he seems to befriend one anyway; huh?).  I couldn’t really tell from the preview and I’m never sure of what to think when NBC makes a stab at fantasy/sci-fi (they find a way to botch it).

    The preview for “Awake” looks great – a bit of detective story with inter-dimensional/philosophical/dream versus reality and which is which.  And… Jason Isaacs as the lead! (continuing the trend of Brits as Americans; but he’s done it very well for quite awhile now (see the ex. of “Brotherhood“).  Plus, he’s clearly available after the end of the Harry Potter series anyway.

    But, as tv critic Alan Sepinwall notes: “Awake” is made by “Lone Star” creator Kyle Killen.  And, “Lone Star” looked good – but couldn’t last as a series (as I’ve noted previously (and when it first aired)).  I wonder if “Awake” is going to be the same – sure it’s high-concept, but its staying power for purposes of a series is another story.  And, Sepinwall’s right – previews aren’t exactly the best ways to judge the potential of a tv show.

    Also, over at Entertainment Weekly, check out Ken Tucker’s commentary about the NBC previews (I like his take – pretty even-handed about “Grimm” and I totally agree about the out-of-era sexism of “Prime Suspect”), about the FOX previews (the un-evenness is making it that, yeah, I think I’ll only watch “Fringe” on FOX, unless this new Abrams show is somehow fascinating), and about the ABC previews (another fairy tale show?  why is it that NBC and ABC keep trying to vie with each other – “Community” vs. “Modern Family” and now this?).

    I have to say, following the travails of the NFL lockout has been fascinating for all these legal gambits (and yet another opportunity for mediation – assuming the parties will negotiate in good faith). Crazy, though…

    The passing of Edward Hardwicke, who played Dr. Watson to Jeremy Brett’s Holmes; now, both men are gone. I grew up watching those episodes on PBS, when “Mystery!” was not under the “Masterpiece” umbrella. Edward Hardwicke was also the reader for Sherlock Holmes audiobooks (check out his imdb page – I honestly wouldn’t have thought that he did a voice in the Lara Croft game).

    The passing of Murray Handwerker, the son of Nathan Handwerker – of Nathan’s (hot dog) fame.

  • APA Heritage Month Continues

    From NAPABA: call to urge the Senate to confirm Goodwin Liu for the 9th Circuit.

    From AABANY: an article by current AABANY President Linda Lin in the NY Law Journal on the APA experience.

    Some items from NY1 about the growth of APA’s in the five boros: diverse APA groups in Queens and Chinese in Staten Island.  Curious to see what the coverage will be about APA’s in Brooklyn.

    Profile in the Daily News of Rahul Rai, Indian-American/Pace U student/ex-US Open ball boy/actor of “When Harry Tries to Marry” and resident of Brooklyn Heights.   Time Out New York review didn’t think much of the movie, but it sounds like a harmless romantic comedy with Asian Americans in NYC (with great NYC shots) – the kind of stuff for which I’m a sucker because they’re harmless amusement.

    Chef Morimoto, Iron Chef, hosting an event on Wednesday at the Harvard Club, for Japan earthquake fundraising.

    So… McDonald’s is changing some chicken sandwiches and McNuggets sauces and… bringing back the Asian salad.  Hmm…

    Many more items out there, I’m sure…

  • Some More Stuff

    Jim Lehrer stepping down as the main anchor on the Newshour.  Kind of weird that it’s really happening, even if Jim Lehrer was planning for the future for quite awhile (yeah, the future’s here!); at least he’ll still be on Fridays to moderate Shields and Brooks.

    The Washington Post with a nice Lehrer profile for the occasion.  I like the description of the Lehrer and MacNeil friendship.

    An analysis of NBC’s “Outsourced,” on NPR’s Monkey See Blog, as “Outsourced” is going to have its Big Sleep, presuming that being in the bubble means likely cancellation (yes, a Raymond Chandler reference; I recommend the book, if only to get the metaphor).  Americans of Indian descent deserve a better sitcom.  Actually, all Americans do, but that’s another story entirely.

    I’m almost got caught up with “Community” – but for the season finale, which was earlier this evening.  I did catch the last 5 minutes of the season finale though.  I don’t think I’ll ever truly appreciate Chevy Chase as Pierce, but maybe the writers will figure out to work Pierce better with the rest of the study group.  Or how to avoid putting too much Ken Jeong out there; too much of him can be a bit much.

    However, hat tip to 8Asians’ Facebook fan page: Ken Jeong’s Mother’s Day post on the Huffington Post, in honor of his wife was sweet.

    I think that I ought to get caught up on “Parks and Recreation.”  “Fringe” is not a sitcom, but it is … very strange…  time traveling always gives me a headache.  I’ll say that much.

    Hat tip to a law school classmate, JK: link to this article in the New York Magazine by Wesley Yang, “Paper Tigers: What happens to all the Asian-American overachievers when test-taking ends?”  A really interesting and complex read, because it’s kind of true – we as APA’s have to figure out the soft skills, not just taking a standardized test – and that’s not something to blame on affirmative action (the existence or lack thereof), but also involves class and culture clashes.

    In response to the Wesley Yang article, YC – via Facebook – suggested this link, “Tiger Moms and Black Swans,” considering how much parenting and other elements (like, how do we really view our kids?  what do we really value?) are so relevant.

    Hat tip to NAPABA’s fan page on Facebook: APA’s making progress in the federal judiciary, but with far to go.

  • May 2011 Continues

    A charming interview on NPR’s Morning Edition with Dick Van Dyke.

    A hat tip from a friend of mine on Facebook (NS) lead this link to CNN about lawyers who meditate, to balance the work-life stress.  The article, by Amanda Enayati, states that US Supreme Court Justice Breyer told Oprah that he wasn’t really a meditator, yet what he described a practice that is pretty much meditation, and honestly, meditation ain’t a bad thing.  More lawyers ought to do it to just chill out. I ‘m still working on it myself, though, so… who knows what really works to find balance?

    The passing of Bill Gallo, a New York City institution.  The Daily News Sports Section won’t be the same without Gallo, his characters (no more new Basement Bertha or Yuchie?), his fondness for lovable losers (well, the Mets were in that category for awhile now), and his drawing “the goat” for playoffs.

    A gallery of some of Gallo’s work here at the Daily News website.

    Thoughts from Daily News’ Mike Lupica about Gallo; see also NY1’s coverage, including a One On One by Budd Mushkin with Gallo, back in 2006.  Gabe Pressman at WNBC also wrote a nice piece about Gallo.