Some more articles on Loretta Lynch, US Attorney General nominee and US Attorney of Eastern District of NY, in the NY Times on her cases (she had been on the team prosecuting the case of police brutality against the victim Abner Louima) and how the Republicans might make things difficult with the confirmation process to have a proxy fight over executive directives and immigration policy. Why the Republicans have to be a pain about this, when Lynch has been twice confirmed by the Senate for two tenures as US Attorney (as seen in the analysis over at Slate) – well, politics…
So, the Fulton Street subway hub is going to be finally… done? The MTA is calling it “Fulton Center” and after so much delay, a ballooning budget, and months of scary tarp (I was there a few times – I did not like the tarp and lack of real bannisters, and the feeling of “oh my God, this construction stuff is going to fall on me?”), the place is finally going to open with its glass dome. Very curious to see this thing and whether it was worth the madness.
Sports: umm, NY metro area’s sports aren’t much to speak of, although the NY Jets won, so there’s this bright spot in their misery. NY Giants could not beat Seattle Seahawks (the reigning Super Bowl champs), with an unpleasant second half (I made it home to not want to watch it). This unpleasantness includes my undergraduate Alma Mater team, which is now 0-9, having lost on Saturday to Harvard (which now has the reverse record, and no loss against the Ivy League).
No spoilers from me, but the season finale of “Doctor Who” last night on BBC America was mostly ok (some odd plotholes, but so that goes). I give lots of kudos to actor Peter Capaldi for bringing the 12th Doctor to life, and actress Jenna Coleman for rising to his game level as Clara (the previous season was criticized for not quite knowing what to do with Clara, writing-wise, and so there was a lot of better character development this season, since the writers – and especially head writer Stephen Moffat – remembered that Clara isn’t just a plot device; but I generally like Clara anyway, so I’m not going to complain). And, of course, season finales (and Doctor Who ones, certainly) has some heartbreaking moments. So, if you hadn’t seen it yet, be prepared!
I was watching a little of “Worricker” on Masterpiece on PBS, starring actor Bill Nighy as Johnny Worricker, the MI-5 agent whose principles get in the way. I wasn’t paying the greatest of attention, but it was a strange watch because I was all “spot the actor” – Winona Ryder! Christopher Walken! Helena Bonham-Carter! Malik Yoba! Rupert Graves! (and Rupert Graves – who has played Inspector Lestrade on BBC’s Sherlock – has aged so well; I remembered watching some of the shows on PBS years ago and thinking that he was one of those dangerously creepy good looking men; so, mmm!). I wasn’t sure what was happening with this episode, but with these big casts, sometimes it can be crazy.
Back to some other writing…