Author: ssw15

“Star Trek: Enterprise” – last week, I noted that I’m still looking for more from the series. This week’s episode, “Proving Ground,” seemed just a bit closer to the “more” – although, I’m still not sure how to articulate what this “more” is. Commander Shran of the blue Andorian aliens arrives to help Captain Archer and the Enterprise crew in getting info on the Xindi weapon. Shran, played by actor Jeffrey Combs, was quite good; he’s conflicted by his genuine interest in helping and respecting the humans and yet is obligated toward the Andorians’ own interest to get the weapon for themselves.

Combs is a recurring Star Trek actor, most well-known as the villainous and slimy Weyoun of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” He’s so convincing as Shran, someone you’d like to trust but know that you can’t. I got into it by yelling at the tv, “Archer, don’t listen to him; he’s Weyoun in a prior life and he hasn’t exactly been that trustworthy with you in the past two seasons anyway!” Archer, played by Scott Bakula, still needs work – I may never know if it’s because of the line reading or the script writing (without stronger writing, even Bakula, who has been a better actor in the past, can’t milk all that much). More Shran/Combs please!

Captain Kangeroo, aka Bob Keeshan (who I most remember as the host of the CBS Saturday morning Storytime show), has passed away. Yahoo.com – why are they posting a picture of Keeshan and Howard Dean? (besides the fact that Keeshan’s home was in Vermont; there were probably other heartwarming pictures of Keeshan to show). Anyway, the point is, Keeshan is a sad loss, much like with the passing of Fred Rogers. What are kids watching these days without such figures? They are missed.

“Brooklyn Nets”? For real? I don’t know what to make of it; while it’s great to see Brooklyn get revitalized (and unfortunate that Newark hasn’t been able to do it), I feel for those people whose homes are going to have to be put out of the way unless the designs and plans get tweaked. I’m not necessarily anti-development, but I’m hardly pro-development either.

Bacon taste testing in the NY Times! Bacon is good, even if I am one of those people who’d look for the least fatty one in the supermarket.

Slate.com has a good article on the real story behind “Cheaper by the Dozen.” (I liked the original movie; the original book was also good; not touching the current movie).

Slate.com’s Michael Kinsley says he has figured out what “Compassionate Conservative” means. Hmm. The article’s worth a look just to help one figure it out.

Last night’s “Angel” on WB – quite good. Angel and Spike, Spike and Angel – two vampires with souls who may or may not have destinies to fulfill. In last night’s episode, Spike’s on a path that paralleled Angel’s path of four years ago when Angel began the path of the champion in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Angel’s feeling sicker and sicker (literally) over whether he’s looking less like a champion and losing meaning in his work. Yet, who’s playing conquer and divide between Spike and Angel? Are the Powers That Be still involved and who are Wolfram and Hart’s Senior Partners? Who is good, who is evil, and what does it mean when you’re in the gray? Is it okay to be in a blurry world, or better for things to remain strictly black and white? Will Team Angel figure it out, before they get sucked into oblivion??? And, oh yeah, the classic take on a favorite favorite sci-fi/fantasy plotline, wherein parasite suck one’s mind. Kudos. You can never get away from parasites.

In the middle of all this, the “Angel” episode (directed by Angel star himself, David Boreanez) injected some good humor. Angel’s dream sequences are remarkable (good dream sequences are always hard to beat – funny yet filled with Freudian analyses type of questions). There was one moment that made one wish that the producers had been able to get Sarah Michelle Gellar back as Buffy, but what they did instead was funny enough (her voice and a blonde stand-in would have to do, apparently; it seemed like Angel and Spike were going to have to take that as it was).

Earlier this week, in a review in the NY Daily News, tv critic David Bianculli thought “American Idol” was still as good a watch as ever – although he seemed to think that judges Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul seemed meaner than they have in the past, he pointed out that the contestants haven’t exactly made it any easier. Simon Cowell thought an immigrant contestant couldn’t have even won “Kosovo Idol.” Randy and Simon snickered like junior high school boys at a bunch of losers when they were left to judge with Paula gone. Too many contestants had serious tin ears, refusing to acknowledge that they so cannot sing. Did they realize that the line between karaoke (singing for one’s own pleasure, by the way) versus the big time (where, you know, you’re supposed to be serious) is not that big a blur, really?

Anyway, “American Idol” still a fun watch, especially if one likes watching people get punished (fairly or not) like this. But, it’s sometimes scary or hard to watch – when the sore losers get too sore and then I get to feel the voyeur for listening to them rant about Simon or the other judges; when the sore loser then causes a tortious assault (you know, the kind the tort law professors would teach) on Simon (throwing water at Simon); and so on – it almost makes me wince. The Chinese guy in Houston, who aimed to be the Hong Kong flavor of the “American Idol” – umm, okay – so he forgot that one needed actual talent, not just a desire, to be on tv. I figured some contestants were intentionally bad, to get on television; but, it’s hard to tell sometimes. It should get more interesting when the good singers come on.

Some weird trademark case involving the NY Mets; apparently this British meteorological group called “The Met Office” wasn’t happy about the British Patent Office (BTO) letting the NY Mets register the NY Mets logo in Britain. But, as the article indicated, BTO just didn’t see any likelihood of confusion (a real popular phrase, as I recalled from my trademarks class); seriously, who’d be confused that either group is associated with the other? Their logos are different, their line of businesses are different (unless you mean to tell me that a bunch of British meteorologists play baseball? right…), and even their geographical bases are different (NY v. London; the battle of the metropolises…).

Plus, as the article indicated, lots of other places/groups use “Met” in their name or nickname. There’s the London Metropolitan Police Force (aka Scotland Yard; methinks that “The Met Office” won’t want to mess with those chaps) and there’s the NY Metropolitan Opera. The article also forgot to mention NY’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (also called “The Met”; or, at least I admit to calling it that from time to time). So, for now, Mr. Met can walk around London with his head safely on his shoulders (and I don’t necessarily mean figuratively either, considering how wobbly looking the mascot’s baseball head is).

Travelocity.com has an amusing ad campaign in both print and tv forms. The little garden ceramic gnome is anthropomorphized in photographs about his vacation. His name is Bill and he’s sending postcards or photos home about his enjoying a Jacuzzi; luge; and assorted other activities. He has a cute little British accent and gently reminds us not to leave our hats home. He reminded me of the gnome from “The Full Monty” (wherein the lads accidentally broke the ceramic gnome of the recently-laid off middle manager whilst playing with it; thus probably explaining Bill’s accent). Very nice touch on Travelocity.com’s part. Nothing too abrasive and stays on point. Ironically, though, the local WB channel (WPIX Ch. 11) had an human interest news item awhile back about how this middle American family were upset that someone stole their ceramic gnome, who looked an awful lot like Travelocity’s Bill. Hmm…

Howard Dean’s outburst/ranting/raving/whatever you want to call it – it just seems to have a life of its own, considering how the local tabloids (NY Post and NY Daily News) have portrayed it and how the jokes are made about it. I mean, geez, the Daily News even had psychologists analyze the whole thing. More hmm. (I better stop with the hmm’s before I start sounding like Marge Simpson).

NY Times and Slate.com had contrasting takes on the Democratic response to the State of the Union address. I thought the Slate.com one was funnier (although, I’m still not sure if that was the intent; butWalter Saletan’s critique of Nancy Pelosi was amusing anyway). From what I saw of the Democratic response, I thought the duo presentation of the response made for jarring tv. Just pick one speaker and go with it; why have two? Daschle seemed more preferable (he is, after all, Senate minority leader who’s been a leader longer than Pelosi has, and he seemed better at critiquing while trying to still be good old loyal opposition without being total firebrand; Pelosi has some ways to go – made me miss Gephardt). Duo speakers aren’t the greatest of things. I felt the same way back when the Republicans had Sen. Frist and a woman GOP senator do a duo response to Clinton’s State of the Union (although, in that case, I thought both Frist and his colleague seemed very plastic).

Happy Lunar New Year….

The other day, the NY Post had this letter to the editor from a NY upstater resident; she apparently resented the downstaters’ whining about the cold. See, upstate, the cold is normal and the downstaters ought to quit complaining and deal with it. Now, I’d be the first to admit that one should stop complaining while one is ahead, but this winter isn’t “normal” – “normal” for NYC is temperatures in the 30’s, not lows in the single digits. And, last week, so I understood from various news venues, even deepest Maine wasn’t enjoying the negative 30 degrees (the governor over there declared an emergency). So, this might actually have been justifiable complaining. Besides, NYC is supposedly in the temperate zone – extreme climates are never fun, whether it’s one of those 100 degree heat waves or Arctic blasts. To complain is human… Just thought I’d air out that vent on my part and perhaps it’s a reminder as to why I should be careful about reading those letters to the NY Post editors (and about reading the NY Post generally).

NY Times’ Quote of the day, 1/20/04:

“‘Where are you going to get the jury pool from, Mars?’ asked Judy Leon, senior vice president of Bowne DecisionQuest, a litigation advisory firm, who added that Ms. Stewart’s campaign had set a new standard for prominent defendants.”

(N.B. – I’ve put the quote in its contextual paragraph, just to give a better sense as to who Judy Leon was).

Random thought – Iowa’s outcomes were interesting. Now it’s time to see how New Hampshire and beyond will work out; the wild ride continues, as the NY Times’ editorial indicated. I’m just glad I didn’t make a real endorsement of anyone in particular – but Howard Dean’s journey is turning into strange viewing; that’s all I’ll say!

I don’t/didn’t always agree with David Brooks, but he made an interesting analysis on the moderate Democrat’s stance. (I question his statement that 9/11/01 hasn’t yet made an impact on the campaign 2004; after all, Iowa isn’t NYS, which has to bear (and already is bearing) a big brunt on the war on terrorism, as far as domestic protection issues are concerned; curious to see who NY’ers will vote for when primary day comes here).

Missed most of the State of the Union address; caught the end and the most of the post-speech analysis; hmm… still trying to figure it out. Probably should read the newspapers/on-line stuff. Shouldn’t complain too much about it – yet.

Enough said. Try again later…

Cold stuff to note:

– Today’s NY Daily News had a cute cover page – a picture of two Central Park Zoo polar bears, the only ones who love the arctic air. They must be enjoying temperatures, their natural habitat’s climate. Must be Mother Nature’s way of consoling the polar bears after the lousy hot summers (which they proabably hated like crazy, particularly when it hits the 100 degree mark or the high heat index feeling).

– Last night’s Channel 11 (WPIX) local 10pm news’ portrayal of the Big Freeze was a little bizarre – roving reporter Marvin Scott (a longtime veteran, mind you, after more than 30 years) was wearing a tiny hat atop of his head, clearly not giving him much warmth, and his face was turning frigid red. Another reporter on another channel had her jacket unzipped, as if we needed to see the color of her blouse. Bundle up, ladies and gentlemen, especially when you’re warning the rest of us to do that! Reporters who looked most warm were found on WNBC (Channel 4) 11pm news – they looked zipped up, with knitted hats and gloves. Good for them.

Last night’s “Threat Matrix” – I caught mostly of the episode (but not really paying all that much attention, using the tv as background noise and still finding the show a little wanting because the writing and acting needs to be tighter). I checked it out, because ABC apparently promoted it in the tv guides as the episode where a cast member would die. They weren’t kidding either, and the episode ended up being stronger for it (I mean, really, it makes a series more interesting when you have the suspense of wondering who’ll be on for the whole season (ex’s., “MI-5” and “Alias” (but almost no one dies in “Alias” anyway)). Although the episode was mostly strong, the “Threat Matrix” lead character, Kilmer, wasn’t too convincing playing angsty, I thought. He meant well, I guess.

Asians on tv – North Koreans are the Team Threat Matrix’s enemy – well, maybe they’re the enemy; when the North Korean diplomat secretly needs the team’s help to rescue his secret illegitimate daughter, not everyone’s an enemy. Then there’s a Korean-American DEA agent helps Team Threat Matrix; but, Kilmer’s disapproving of the DEA’s tactics. Hmm. But, the two then learn that teamwork is good. Okay. There was also a nice touch to educate the viewers: Character A – “I didn’t know Koreans celebrate Chinese New Year.” Paraphrasing Kilmer: “Yeah, Koreans celebrate Chinese New Year; but they call it ‘Lunar New Year.’” Thumbs up, particularly for timeliness.

PBS’s “Now with Bill Moyers” had a nice story tonight – about the Earth Conservation Corps in Washington, D.C., which recruits inner-city young people of southeast D.C. to preserve the Anacostia River (the not-so nice side of D.C., with the worst murder rate in the country). The Corps experience gives hope to the young people – opportunities they never thought about before the Corps: that they can appreciate the once-natural beauty of the region as a part of their heritage, before industry and urban sewage wrecked it; that the participants of the Corps could consider areas of marine biology, environmentalism, and maybe even work in related-government agencies like the National Park Service or others; and that maybe there’s reform, in the hope of so much stacked against them. It is a story that doesn’t get seen in the news very often; there’s hopefulness, in bringing a community to appreciate an environment that could be forgotten as polluted and dead.

Carole Mosley Braun’s withdrawal from the 2004 presidential election had some grace. I think she came out of this better than I thought, even if she fell short of goals and has financial debt. She did well in the debates, and showed that people of color and women can’t be ignored.

Clyde Haberman’s column in the NY Times observes how the politicians’ rhetorical abilities – the talents for eloquence – are in decline. No one makes Gettysburg addresses anymore; as Haberman notes, we’re down to soundbites. But, are soundbites enought to capture our feelings from 9/11//01? As an example, Haberman notes that Rudy Giuliani isn’t exactly a great speaker:

“Mind you, Mr. Giuliani was himself no Churchill as a public speaker, prone as he was to stumble on the verbal debris that litters modern English. A good example came six years ago when he sneered at criticism of his ban on fireworks in Chinatown to celebrate the Lunar New Year. ‘Before we do this, like, cultural thing,’ he said, ‘we have to sort of, like, get real here.’”

Kudos to Haberman for highlighting a timely reference (Lunar New Year is coming, after all) and for Giuliani’s not-so-good moment. But, Haberman appreciates Rudy Giuliani’s soundbite from those early dark September 2001 days, about how the tragedy was, as Giuliani said, “‘more than any of us can bear.”’ Maybe fewer words are the way to go when Americans let images capture our emotion; but Haberman wonders if we’re missing something.

Slate.com’s “Explainer” explains “Why does Iowa Get to Go First?” – very informative.

And, so it goes. When is it going to get warmer? I ought to stop complaining; it’s January, after all.

Last night’s “Star Trek: Enterprise” was all right. It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t great. It aimed to be topical – religious warriors who claim to fight for what they believe is sacred, up against another faction on their planet. They put the Enterprise in danger and Capt. Archer does what he can while keeping his real goal in mind – to fight for Earth. You get the feeling that the Star Trek writers are trying to capture the post 9/11/01 feelings, as they have been trying to do for the past two seasons. But, it felt off for me. Scott Bakula is improving as Archer, but I never quite understood Archer in the first place (even if I had thought that the series premiere was pretty strong).

I once told a friend of mine that a Star Trek series that would reflect the troubled times we’re in should have been more like “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”; in its last four seasons, DS9 was about a war that threatened a society that celebrated democracy and diversity. It was about troubled leaders and societies under pressure, with the Federation and all those honorable Starfleet officers trying not to compromise their values, and having questions about who were friends and who were enemies. It was a soap opera – relationships were made and changed; characters grew, lived, and died (or came back, since no one really dies in good Star Trek – but, Captain Sisko’s fate is still in doubt), but there was a lot of thought put into that series. Some thought does go into “Star Trek: Enterprise,” but I always feel the need for more. More what? Well, as a Supreme Court justice said, I guess I’ll know what when I see it.

I hopefully didn’t give away much about the plot of last night’s “Enterprise” episode, so feel free to catch it in rebroadcasts this week and make your own judgment about it.

Last night’s “Angel,” on the other hand, was good solid fun. The episode starts off with a hilarious “commercial” about the law firm of Wolfram & Hart, promoting how the Los Angeles office’s new management, under President Angel, “won’t kill you so long as you don’t kill anyone,” with the new policy of doing good (stop the evil, as Team Angel, formerly of Angel Investigations, Inc., believe). Harmony, a ditzy blonde girl vampire, is Angel’s administrative assistant at Wolfram & Hart. In the Buffy-universe, Harmony was the popular girl in Sunnydale High School; when Spike made her a vampire, she was not very good at not being evil. When the tv guide said that the episode was Harmony-oriented, I wasn’t impressed at first.

But, the episode was interesting – a weird comedic mystery. Harmony becomes a lot more three-dimensional, but there’s good humor in it. Moving into the Angel world, Harmony’s finding the attempt to be on the side of good to be hard. Unlike Angel and Spike, she doesn’t have a soul; but, she’s obligated to not feed on people anymore while working under the new management of the firm (she needs a job to pay the rent, and unlike Angel, Harmony’s not into angstiness, I guess). But, being the Boss’ assistant doesn’t make her popular in the firm; she’s sitting in the lounge and no one wants to talk to her about the workplace gossip. And, then there’s that matter about the dead guy in her bedroom – Harmony’s in deep trouble and bops a few heads in the attempt to prove she didn’t really commit murder. As Angel says, “Why don’t you just come to me for help?” (and considering his recent behavior, who could blame Harmony for not wanting to go to him?). While Harmony could be bugged about Spike’s continuing infatuation for Buffy, she aims to think positive – she might not be the same popular girl, but she matters in this world.

In the middle of all this, Angel is trying to remain sane in the insane world – but he’s feeling the strain. He and Spike are going to have to figure out who’s the vampire-with-a-soul-with-a-destiny. “Angel” has been hitting better than last season. It better keep it going with the quality and storytelling.

Fitting the weather, I make some references to that particular cold weather/climate sport on ice…

NY Times’ Sports section is sort of underestimated; once in awhile, it gets a weird story that’s quite something. Consider the quotation of the day and the link to the corresponding article, wherein one learns that NHL players aren’t into playing the stereotype of toothless hocky players (at least, not these days):

“When I would walk on the street, people would say to me, ‘You’ve got teeth!’”
– KEN DANEYKO, retired hockey player (NJ Devils)

Ah, yes, technology has made it possible to encourage hockey players to go for better tooth replacements; today’s ad world encourages them to want to preserve their handsome mugs for bigger bucks (not to mention avoid unnecessary pain).

The commercials for the movie “Miracle” – starring Kurt Russell as the coach of the Miracle on Ice USA Team of the Lake Placid Olympics – are fun looking. How does one make a disparate bunch of teenagers who play hockey in their various colleges and states and make them realize they are Team USA? Well, put them on ice and see what happens. Wonder if the movie is as good as its commercials.

The “warm” spell (warmer than the arctic air anyway) is too brief; 30’s and 40’s degree temperature (normal in NYC) for – what? – two days – and now it’s quickly back to the arctic windchill (or the actual arctic temperature; either way, it’s cold).

Speaking of politics, I liked the NY Times article on the Iowa caucus; the description of how it worked really sounded like old style democracy (or, at least, the way my old junior high school social studies teacher used to describe colonial New England town hall). And, I never knew how “political” it can be to hold a caucus in someone’s home – but it’s Iowa for you, I guess. It makes sense that Iowans are leaning toward having the caucus in schools and so forth these days.

Fascinating NY Times article on a federal district judge’s struggle with what he felt was an unjust law. Judge Gerard Lynch of Southern District of NY in Manhattan was not comfortable about sentencing an 18 year old defendant with no prior criminal record for a file-sharing pornography software that he created/advertised/abetted/etc., which included child porn. Apparently, the defendant did not create or made money off the of images; yet he was given a maximum sentence of ten years, as per federal law. The judge tried every way to persuade the US attorney’s office to come to a “different conclusion.” He all but encouraged a jury nullification. In a hearing, he noted that the defendant may have had a lesser sentence had the defendant actually molested a child.

And yet the US attorney’s office noted that there was a duty “‘to enforce the laws enacted by Congress.” Judge Lynch acknowledged this; no doubt since he himself was formerly of the US attorney’s office of Manhattan, he was aware of what enforcing the law meant. Quite an article.

Slate.com’s Dahlia Lithwick discusses the Supreme Zourt’s hearing the oral arguments on Tennessee v. Lane, where Tennesee claims it need not accomodate the disabled by installing accessible ramps or elevators in its courts. The facts by themselves do not look like they’re in Tennesee’s favor – wherein, among other things, paraplegic Lane had to crawl up the stairs to attend to a case where he was a defendant to face misdemeanor charges for driving with a revoked license . Meanwhile, the law is always at issue – the Americans with Disabilities Act and whether it applies to the states, in particular. I’d rather wait and see what the Court will say when the opinion is out; I’m not going to predict based on what happened at oral arguments.

Okay, enough talk about the law and politics (especially politics – always dangerous stuff to talk about). A new episode of “Angel” tomorrow on WB; there’s also a new “Star Trek: Enterprise” on UPN (I’m definitely endorsing “Angel”; reserving judgment on “Star Trek: Enterprise”).

The latest “Explainer” on Slate.com explains “Why is Mars Red?”.

NY Times – fascinating article about why Washingtonians (in D.C.) can’t vote and are trying to vote.

Tonight’s Lehrer Newshour had a amusing panel talking about the “O’Connor Supreme Court.” Justice O’Connor is described either “the most powerful woman ever” with (depending entirely on how you like or dislike her opinions) an inconsistent or an analytical approach.

Last night’s “Alias” was freaky. Spoiler alert – skip this paragraph if you don’t want to be surprised. Then again, I’ll try not to reveal anything substantive anyway …. – I’ve had mixed reactions about the whole trip to the future that Sydney has pulled off; two years has passed since the season finale of May 2003; therefore, assuming the show even took place in May 2003, the season premiere of September 2003 actually takes place in September 2005. Maybe. I think. Now, near as I can tell, last night’s episode takes place some four months after this season finale – almost real time – January 2006. Kendall, Sydney’s old boss of last season, returns (not since his voice back in the season premiere has he even been “seen”) – and he reveals everything. He makes one go through the time traveling (“Ok, wait, so Sydney was gone for two years; brainwashed for six months; comes back – sort of – in nine months – and then goes underground for a year…?? What?”). Mind-bloggingly so. You really have to suspend all belief and just go along with the plot twists (the fun is in the journey, not in reaching the end anyway). And, then came the kicker at the end of the episode; gosh, how many plot twists am I supposed to digest here? “X-Files” gave me more breathing room.

Okay. Spoiler alert over.

Cabin fever must be kicking in, sooner or later.

“Joan of Arcadia” from this past Friday was quite good, with a nice mix of laughs and sadness. Kevin, Joan’s wheelchair user brother, is slowly moving on with his life. The writers did a nice job of wrapping up the Joan and Adam storyline. Joan’s father, the ex-Police Chief Girardi, got to lose his job unceremoniously (he’s a hero for exposing the corruption in the government of Arcadia; but the dissolution of the government meant no more city police department for him) and so he’s offered to be the under sheriff in charge; but declines the offer to be head of the detectives, now “Detective Girardi” – but isn’t that a demotion? Why not Lieutenant or Sergeant? I know, I know, it’s only tv.

Yesterday’s figure skating was awesome. Johnny Weir is the new U.S. men’s figure skating champion; is it a passing of the baton, when Michael Weiss is still around (yet none of the men did the elusive quad). Michelle Kwan is re-crowned the U.S. women’s champion; an amazing performance. Dick Buttons, ABC’s color commentator (and former multiple champion himself) got very enthusiastic and warm about the performance – his commentating was itself an amusing thing to watch/hear.

New episode of “Alias” tonight! Will Sydney finally remember what she did during her two missing years?

NFL playoffs continue with its drama – personally, I don’t get a kick on watching football players and their coaches and fans overcoming frigid temperatures. Was it merely a display of machismo when these football players walked on the field of Massachusetts (3 degrees, I believe, at night), with short sleeves? How smart was that?

What has been amusing with the NFL: the commercials promoting the NFL playoffs, wherein actor Don Cheadle is Big NFL Fan who’s telling the tv viewer that there is absolutely nothing bigger than the NFL playoffs. Cheadle’s enthusiasm is infectious (he is a good actor, after all, and maybe he really is a football fan): in one ad, here he is doing a run against a real running back and saying, “Yeah, I can run” (no, actually, you can’t, but it’s all for good); then, here he is running around in fake snow (with the fan on screen blowing the fake snow), demonstrating the drama of recreating playoffs games of yore in snow; and there he is, showing the glorious ring in his hand, what these players are all battling for. Hmm. Yeah, Cheadle’s making me want to watch the playoffs (well, no, I haven’t watched them with great attention, but I know they’re happening at least).