Triscribe

Author: ssw15

  • Pi Day, or More of the Ides

    3/14… Pi Day.

    Discussion on 8Asians on this nonsensical (to me, anyway) debate on whether Japan “deserves” its situation (8Asians says this is a silly debate too).

    NYTimes.com opinion section recently did a link to this William Safire column that he did during the time of the Indonesian tsunami, which I think is profoundly applicable for current events:

    In the aftermath of a cataclysm, with pictures of parents sobbing over dead infants driven into human consciousness around the globe, faith-shaking questions arise: Where was God? Why does a good and all-powerful deity permit such evil and grief to fall on so many thousands of innocents? What did these people do to deserve such suffering? [….]

    Job’s lessons for today:

    (1) Victims of this cataclysm in no way “deserved” a fate inflicted by the Leviathanic force of nature.

    (2) Questioning God’s inscrutable ways has its exemplar in the Bible and need not undermine faith.

    (3) Humanity’s obligation to ameliorate injustice on earth is being expressed in a surge of generosity that refutes Voltaire’s cynicism.

    How Japan’s religions have a role in dealing with the tragedy.

    Perhaps it’s important to remember, more than ever, what Conan O’Brien said about not succumbing to cynicism. Praying for the best to come out of Japan and the rest of the world, now more than ever.

  • The Ides of March

    I’ve really had to take a break from the news this weekend. Just not good stuff. The news from Japan worsens arising from the earthquake and the resulting tsunami, aftershocks, and nuclear reactor crises. Then, locally, the tragic results of the horrifying casino bus crash at the Bronx/Westchester border.

    Granted, I have nothing personal at stake (thank God), but my thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected. And, honestly, where are the good news?

    So, I had to turn my attentions elsewhere. Currently reading: the satirical textbook, “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book) Teacher’s Edition: A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction.” Sick and funny. Humor makes things a little better. Sort of.

    Via Angry Asian Man, I found out about “fuck yeah asian/pacific islander history,” a photo blog of APA (API) history. Really fascinating stuff. A review of the APA photo album, so to speak.

    Relating to us as APA lawyers/people into APA legal history: a photo of Chinatown leaders taking a break while at court under subpoena, from the San Francisco Library. According to the blog post, in 1956, after a 1955 report from the US Consul in Hong Kong making an unsubstantiated claim that Chinese immigrants were all illegal sleeper agents/criminals:

    the US Attorney Lloyd Burke subpoenas 40 major Chinese American associations demanding a full accounting of income, membership and photographs within 24 hours. Chinatowns on both coasts are raided frequently and business are disrupted at a loss of $100,000 a week. A federal judge eventually rules in favor of the Chinese, calling the subpoena attack a “mass inquisition.”

    Poignant stuff: at least there was some justice. At least history says there has been some hope.

  • TGIF: Some Good Stuff

    I have done a spin off on tumblr, with a book blog (more or less): Literature in Motion (and Other Things). Kind of like how “Frasier” spun off of “Cheers.”

    I’ll continue doing the longer, rambling posts here on triscribe, in addition to the tv commentaries. But, basically, I’m going on-line with this experiment that I began in a book journal, noting on the books that I’ve been reading.

    I’m so looking forward to more “Fringe”… This Friday’s episode was a good episode, even if not great. Guest star: Alan Ruck, the ex-Cameron from “Ferris Bueller,” the ex-Capt. Harriman of “Star Trek: Generations,” and ex-Stuart of “Spin City.” I won’t spoil the episode, but will link to Ken Tucker’s blog post about it over at Entertainment Weekly. (and, yeah, there’s a “Lost” guest star…).

    The preview for next week’s episode – awesome!

    Friday nights with Fringe! – Entertainment Weekly has a great article (I think by Ken Tucker; I’d have to find the link or grab my dead tree copy of the issue) about how the show should continue (Tucker’s blog post about that particular subject: it’s pretty much the article, really).

    It has been pretty intriguing that, on cable, The Hub channel has been airing in its schedule an old favorite like “Family Ties.” Watched the rerun of the series finale – Michael J. Fox and Meredith Baxter were such acting powerhouses, as they played Alex and Elise, the son and mother who butt heads because they are both so stubborn – and so emotional. Good stuff.

    Meanwhile, TeenNick will be returning Nickelodeon 1990’s lineup to the screens. Can’t say that I have much of an opinion on that, since it’s not my nostalgia – I didn’t have cable for a good chunk of the 1990’s, and when I did, I was at college and watching cable for things like, I don’t know, CNN or NY1 or James Bond marathons before final exams or wondering what was the deal with Shark Week.

    In the spirit of the Nickelodeon news, Ken Tucker over at EW highlights one particular bit of nostalgia – Double Dare. That was definitely a time of Nickelodeon’s roots – catapulting Marc Summers to fame (to whatever extent) and the rise of slime and other kid-friendly icky things.

    And, it’s because of Double Dare that I can’t really watch Summers on “Unwrapped” on Food Network without wondering about his old kid show (or at least, I do wonder how did Summers get so bland on “Unwrapped”; he did have a bit of twinkle or sarcasm when he was on Double Dare).

    Ultimately, I like a good old 1980’s/1990’s nostalgia. There’s something entertaining about that, in ways that the 2010’s stuff haven’t quite measured up, or has been so different. Well, except for “Fringe.” Not even “X-Files” questioned about the effectiveness of … “soul magnets.” (Oh, Walter and “Belly.” You two are such crazy mad scientists.)

  • Mother Nature

    The devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Scary news, regarding the effects of these natural events toward Japan’s nuclear power plants.

    NY Times’ Nicholas Kristof observes his sympathy and admiration of Japan, under these circumstances. He had been the Tokyo bureau chief for the Times and so he has some experience about his perceptions of the Japanese:

    Uncomplaining, collective resilience is steeped into the Japanese soul. We sent our eldest son to Japanese school briefly, and I’ll never forget seeing all the little kids having to go to school in shorts even in the dead of winter. The idea was that it built character. I thought it just gave kids colds. But it was one more effort to instill “gaman.” And it’s “gaman” that helped Japan recovered from World War II and tolerated the “lost decade” after the bubble economy burst in about 1990. Indeed, it might be better if Japanese complained a bit more – perhaps then their politicians would be more responsive.

    One factor may also have to do with our relationship with nature. Americans see themselves as in confrontation with nature, taming it. In contrast, the Japanese conception is that humans are simply one part of nature, riding its tides — including many, many earthquakes throughout history. The Kanto earthquake of 1923 killed more than 100,000 people. The Japanese word for nature, shizen, is a modern one, dating back only a bit more than 100 years, because traditionally there was no need to express the concept. In an essay in the Times after the [1995] Kobe quake, I made some of these same points and ended with a 17th century haiku from one of Japan’s greatest poets, Basho:

    The vicissitudes of life.
    Sad, to become finally
    A bamboo shoot.

    I find something noble and courageous in Japan’s resilience and perseverance, and it will be on display in the coming days. This will also be a time when the tight knit of Japan’s social fabric, its toughness and resilience, shine through. And my hunch is that the Japanese will, by and large, work together — something of a contrast to the polarization and bickering and dog-eat-dog model of politics now on display from Wisconsin to Washington. So maybe we can learn just a little bit from Japan. In short, our hearts go out to Japan, and we extend our deepest sympathy for the tragic quake. But also, our deepest admiration.

    I’m not sure about how to react to the tv coverage of the news so far, as I haven’t gotten to watch much of it. James Poniewozik at Time posts on the concern about how coverage is successful (or not) with the networks having cut back on their foreign bureaus and so coverage is due to the social network/Internet/cell phone systems.

    I kind of expected more from “Nightline” than seeing Bill Weir at Santa Monica, CA, about a tsunami wave that didn’t devastate mainland USA; then, he spent a few minutes talking to the ABC Tokyo bureau correspondent; glad that they at least still have a bureau.

    Nice that PBS Newshour does some context about the tsunami’s effect on the Pacific Rim; it’s good to hear that Hawaii has gotten better experience with these situations (after last year’s threat from the Chilean earthquake).

    The images of the tsunami in Japan, though, are horrifyingly devastating. “Devastate” becomes a word used so often, it nearly becomes a cliche. But, I’m not sure what else one can say.

    ABC did turn to Dr. Michio Kaku for scientific context about the earthquake and tsunami. I like how he explains things.

    The troubling 21st Century continues.

  • Marching On in March 2011

    Yeah, it’s still March.   But, not yet the NCAA brackets time.  We’re getting there…

    Hat tip from Roger Ebert’s Facebook fan page (yeah, I checked off that I’m a fan – his blog is great writing): the happiest man in America is Alvin Wong, a Chinese American Jew from Hawaii.  Why am I not surprised that the happiest man in America is in Hawaii?  Angry Asian Man also does his acknowledgment of Alvin Wong.

    Interesting blog post on MoCA’s blog – what is in a Chinese-American’s name and the more personal take on the 1882 Exclusion Act.

    Hat tip from AALDEF‘s Facebook page: the Washington Post editorial says that Prof. Goodwin Liu don’t have bad values to be a US appellate court judge.  This fear of his becoming a potential US Supreme Ct. nominee is making his current nomination for the 9th Circuit ridiculously more difficult than it has to be, I’d say…

    Hat tip from NAPABA‘s Facebook page: interesting post on The Huffington Post about the Goodwin Liu confirmation hearing, from Richard Painter, a former Chief Ethics lawyer of the George W. Bush White House.  Honestly, when even a George W. Bush administration ethics lawyer says that Prof. Liu is qualified to be a US appellate court judge, well, it goes to show how this craziness is.

    Yeah, I’m on Facebook way too much…

    The whole Borders in Chapter 11 bankruptcy saddens me, because the Wall Street Borders was pretty much my local Borders.  Plus, Wall Street Borders was essentially the successor to the World Trade Center Borders, so it feels really sad.  Yeah, the mega bookstores did harm to the mom-and-pop independent bookstores and so the e-book reader is the comeuppance of Borders – but I still feel depressed about any bookstore closing.  Time.com has an article on how Barnes and Noble might continue doing better in this climate.

    Over on “Law and the Multiverse,” the folks there analyze on the legal ethics of the She-Hulk.  I had no idea that She-Hulk is a lawyer.  Actually, of the comic book character world, I only knew that Daredevil is a lawyer.  Kind of awkward to think of the legal implications when you’ve a secret identity and have legal ethics to think about.

    Some TV commentary:

    “Fringe” on FOX – umm, I don’t know where the arc is heading for Peter “the ex-Pacey” Bishop.  Which Olivia or which universe will he choose?  Assassin (of – spoiler! – shape-shifters)/psycho Peter was a little over the top.  Peter “I hate my father-umm-which-father?” Bishop was also a little… well, the life of Peter isn’t easy.

    The episode where Peter’s and Olivia’s first meeting as youngsters was an interesting episode – not only for what it revealed about Peter, Olivia, and the two Walters, but also about Elizabeth Bishop, who I think is a missing piece of the puzzle, no matter which Elizabeth of which universe it is.

    Looking forward to the next episode, where the preview suggests that Walter thinks he can bring William “Belly” Bell back from the dead.  Yeah, right, Walter, you crazy troubled mad scientist.

    Of course, none of the foregoing commentary about “Fringe” makes any sense unless you’re a viewer of the show.  Or if you do not mind sci-fi tv shows that cover two universes, and/or you don’t mind feeling blown away with simultaneous confusion and amusement over a tv show.

    Will still catch up on “Community.”  I sorely need a laugh.

    Actually… I think we all need laughs.  The world is too crazy, as usual, what with all the anti-public sector sentiment, political revolutions, continued economic problems, and craziness over Charlie Sheen (sad vs. amusing; Ken Tucker over at Entertainment Weekly posts the contrasting reactions of Craig Ferguson and Jimmy Fallon – it is crazy out there, it really is).

  • Catching Up on Stuff – or Is it March Already?

    I put in my two cents in the comments section of David Bianculli’s blog, in response to his thoughts about Oscars Night 2011.   Some further elaboration on my part below (I sort of live-micro-blogged it on my Facebook feed when I was watching it; kind of fun).

    I appreciated that Bianculli and Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker struck a nice note about the night – there were highlights and good stuff.

    Really.  There was.

    I thought that a lot of reviews about the Oscars broadcast was way too negative and hard on the presentation; honestly, Roger Ebert and Alan Sepinwall made it seem like God-awful tv.  I think that might be an exaggeration (seriously – there are way worse things on tv than a boring Oscars show; pick any night of “Jersey Shore” – and I tried to watch a half hour of Snooki and the Situation et al., of NJ, and I had to walk away.  Really.).

    And, okay, comparing this Sunday’s Oscars to past Oscars doesn’t make it great or bad or anything either.  Granted I’m not an Oscars tv historian, but surely the past Oscars nights were not exactly Greatest TV Ever?  Then again, I’m probably the one tv viewer who didn’t hate that David Letterman tried to be funny with his Oscars hosting gig; he tried; the Uma-Oprah gag just gathered no positive response from the live audience.  I don’t begrudge Letterman for that; it just wasn’t his night at all.

    James Poniewozik of Time was more even-handed about his critique, but he conceded that he felt tired about the broadcast.  I guess it depends on what you’re looking for in an Oscars night.  How many surprises or weird moment or great moment do you want?  Oscars isn’t the Golden Globes (thankfully; let the Oscars be the Oscars, I say; let them celebrate the history and present of movies and to continue trying to teach and reach out to us, for better or worse).

    Personally, I thought this latest Oscars night was nice, even if not that exciting and a little unsurprising or a tad dull (if only because it had rather unsurprising results: I kept hoping that my sentimental favored movie, “True Grit” would have won something, even if I did like “The King’s Speech”).

    At the start of it, I thought it was pretty cheesy.  I mean, really – James Franco and Anne Hathaway entering Alec Baldwin’s dreams to get the secret of hosting Oscars, a la “Inception”?  James, Anne: why Baldwin?  Why not Billy Crystal’s brain?  Billy Crystal was a better Oscars host and he’s funny; I guess I’m not a big Baldwin fan.  And, James entering the Oscars stage with his cell phone (was he really tweeting on Twitter as he did that?  Please!) – that was a bit much irritating for me.

    Kirk Douglass was being a good sport/ham.   And, seeing Tom Hanks and Billy Crystal at the Oscars was a real joy.

    Some amusing moments included James Franco’s “Congratulations, nerds” to the special effects awardees.  Franco in Marilyn Monroe drag was not nearly that funny – and I kept hoping that Anne Hathaway would have gotten Hugh Jackman up on stage with her (Hathaway sings well, I must say).

    Melissa Leo’s winning Best Supporting Actress – well, I liked that she seemed honestly happy and thrilled, and her rambling felt natural.  Kind of amusing that she let out the f-word, and that the silent bleep caught it in time.  (although, I really like Hallie Steinfeld as Mattie in “True Grit”; she was so strong as a strong character).

    Christian Bale’s winning Best Supporting Actor – good for him.  Sweet that he got all choked up thanking his wife and daughter; he came off as a real person, not a actor caught up in craziness (which happens).  And he didn’t let out the f-bomb (and had the good humor to reflect on his past f-bomb incident while showing gratitude for his win).

    I loved director Tom Hooper’s “Listen to your mother” bit!  And, I thought Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi singing the song from “Tangled” was sweet (when I saw “Tangled,” I kept wondering if that was really Zachary Levi’s voice; so I’m pretty impressed – tv’s Chuck is talented!; and I really liked that they kept it simple; simple can go a long way; ).

    The no applause of the “In Memoriam” portion was respectful (although I remain a not-fan-of Celine Dion).  Lena Horne’s quote at the end of the “In Memoriam” was fitting and powerful.

    I was charmed by Colin Firth’s Best Actor award acceptance speech.  He even saluted his significant other – how sweet!  (but – as a disclaimer – I, like so many others, have a crush on him since “Pride and Prejudice” and my crush on him will continue unabated…).

    I also like this new tradition of acknowledging all the nominees for their acting before announcing the winner.  Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock did such nice jobs of it and I do think that people should be acknowledged for their amazing efforts (even if they don’t get that statuette).

    Steven Speilberg’s saying that the nine Oscar Best Picture non-winners were in good company was solid.  The video of the speech from “The King’s Speech” as a foundation/background for the clip montage from all the ten Best Picture nominees was also nice.  I think the Oscar folks really did a good editing to match the right clips to the king’s words (words that observed the eve of World War II and concerned a changing world and desire for better and hope for peace in the face of danger – kind of timeless stuff, actually).

    I liked that Anne Hathaway put in a lot of effort and spirit.  I kind of wanted more from James Franco, but then again: I’m not sure how much to expect from actors who usually aren’t in the position of hosting three hours of stuff (and I wasn’t sure how much guidance were they given about their task).

    The pacing of the whole thing was probably a bit off (but no worse than usual from past years – Billy Crystal was so right about that, when he came out on the stage and said as much).  I thought the auto-tuning “musical” gag ran too long; it would’ve been funnier if it was tighter (but the gag did make the scenes from the Harry Potter and Twilight movies hilarious).

    I was really touched to see all the winners come out at the end with the PS 22 kids’ singing “Over the Rainbow.”  That was a great moment to end the night, with a great song. (even if a little late for the kids…!)

    Oh, and take a look at Colin Firth on “The King’s Speech” on Charlie Rose.  Mmm.  Colin Firth.   (yes, I’m very superficial).

    Eli Wallach was among those with a lifetime achievement award at the Oscars (along with Francis Ford Coppola).  I liked that they had his clip of “I live to act” remark from his acceptance speech.  A.O. Scott of the NY Times has a charming profile of Eli Wallach, noting that Wallach is his great-uncle.  The accompanying video of A.O. Scott visiting his Uncle Eli and Aunt Anne (Jackson) was also sweet stuff.  A.O. Scott even touched on this in his Oscars video with David Carr.

    Yes, Natalie Portman won for Best Actress.  She is also someone with a science background back in her Harvard days, somehow balancing her intellectual and acting sides, as this article by Natalie Angier notes in the NY Times.  The article also cites Hedy Lamarr (who helped develop torpedo guidance systems during World War II), Mayim Bialik (ex-Blossom of tv fame and now a recurring neuro-biologist character on “Big Bang Theory” and a real-life neuro-biologist), and Danica McKellar (ex-Winnie Cooper of “The Wonder Years” tv fame; and later a math honors graduate of UCLA who’s advocating for better math education for girls – and currently doing the voice of Miss Martian on “Young Justice”) as examples of actors who understand and work in the science and math fields.

    Somehow, James Franco continues his education (pursuing a Phd. in English at Yale) and acting.  I don’t know how he does it, but apparently with little sleep.  Oh well!

    MSNBC.com – with a comparison of the two True Grits.   I haven’t seen the original True Grit, so I have no basis of comparison, but I really did enjoy Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hallie Steinfeld, etc., and apparently the Coen brothers tried to be true to the original book “True Grit,” so that goes.

    On a not-Oscars movies thing: I had seen the trailer for Josh Radnor’s “Happythankyoumoreplease” when I went to see “True Grit” last week; I was impressed by the preview.  Yes, it’s the guy who plays Ted of “How I Met Your Mother” – again playing a romantic but skeptical artist (this time, a writer, not an architect) with a circle of friends in NYC – and he wrote, directed, and starred in this film.  Hmm!  The NY Times profiles Radnor and his soon-to-be-released film.  I’m looking forward to this…

    And, a non-movies and science-related note: Congressman Rush Holt, a former five-time Jeopardy champ and a nuclear physicist, managed to beat Watson in a game in Washington, DC.   Yay, a Democrat is going to save humanity from machines.  Sorry to Ken Jennings.  A nice video from CBS on Holt’s observations – including how we can invest in our human capabilities.  Ain’t that the truth?

    More posts later; “Fringe” and “Community” are still good tv as far as I’m concerned…

  • Happy Lunar New Year and A Super Bowl Sunday

    Gearing up for the big game tonight?

    If not: PBS has counter-programming with Masterpiece Theatre’s “Emma” (all three-parts).

    True, the Jets aren’t in, but it sounds like the Big Game (in Dallas this year) could be interesting with Packers v. Steelers.  Not sure about whether the commercials will be interesting though.

    That was pretty powerful though: a 20 second bit of FOX having actor Dan Lauria, who’s playing Vince Lombardi on Broadway, play Lombardi to goad the current Packers, as part of the mega pre-pre-game festivities.

    Amid all the drama surrounding Amy Chua’s book (you can check the links I noted), her husband (yeah, another Yale Law professor), Jed Rubenfeld, has another historical thriller/mystery, “The Death Instinct.”

    (I did a search – I actually did notice Rubenfeld’s past book; but I never get around to reading it)

    Anyway, so Rubenfeld’s latest book seems to have positive reviews so far and when I skimmed the first chapter, it seemed to be pretty gripping.  But, it must be tough to be in a household where you both have books out at about the same time and the reviewer in the NY Times couldn’t resist noting your wife’s controversial book in the review for your book.  Geez.

    Check this out: The (PBS) Newshour does a review of how their new format’s been doing.  Impressive that the new format of The Newshour has turned out well (at least, better than I expected; but then again, I’m probably the generation that’s watching more Newshour on-line than ever).

    Slate article pondering the popularity of “Hawaii 5-O.”  I haven’t watched the show in awhile. But, I do like Scott Caan and Daniel Dae Kim. And, hooray for diversity for on tv! This show probably has more APA’s on screen than anywhere else, not to mention that it is helping the economy of Hawaii (kind of like how “Lost” and “Magnum, PI” and original “Hawaii Five-O” did).

    Mark Bittman moving on from The Minimalist column; he’s heading to the opinion side, to talk about food (as an industry, as politics, as culture – because we’re screwing ourselves with bad food – take a look at the first post of his new blog on the opinion side of the NYTimes.com). Good luck, Bittman! Loved your videos!

    With all the horrible weather that we’ve been having: find your inner Cory Booker.  Dig out yourself and your neighbors.

    Fell a bit behind on this, but: Fred Korematsu Day in California!   Time coverage here, by Ling Woo Liu, director of the Fred T. Korematsu Institute for Civil Rights and Education and a former reporter for Time in Hong Kong (I remembered that she used to be part of Time.com’s old China Blog).  More coverage on Angry Asian Man blog: here, here, and here.

    Will post more about tv commentary and other things (as usual) later…

  • Other Stuff

    Crazily enough: the Jets have beaten Indianapolis and New England and will be playing Pittsburgh next week.  Crazy!

    PBS posts the view of Brianna Lee, as her father, Edwin Lee, is sworn in as interim mayor of San Francisco, the first Asian-American in the position of mayor of SF.  Lee would be different than the previous mayor (and… he’s an APA lawyer!).

    Brooklyn Historical Society and the 1770 Map restoration.

    An interesting look at old Tavern on the Green, while it’s not in operation (or awaiting something to replace it, whatever that might be).

    I didn’t even realize it: the comic strip of Brenda Starr came to an end.  How sad.  She was a  pioneer woman journalist with the mysterious love interest in Basil St. John (the man with the eye patch) and funny friends and weird adventures.  They really don’t make comic strips like that anymore.  Then again, were there still readers of comic strips, much less readers of dead tree newspapers?

    And, oh yes, as this is triscribe and we’re APA’s and lawyers: let’s not forget the reaction to Yale Law Professor Amy Chua’s book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.”   Wall Street Journal did an excerpt, which sent the APA bloggers into Red Alert.  Via San Francisco Chronicle, Jeff Yang gets further perspective from Amy Chua concerning that excerpt.   On Disgrasian.com, the point is that the book is a memoir, not a how-to – but, as Disagrasian notes: it’s not clear why Chua still had to take the perspective of Immigrant-1st Generation Parent to torture her kids to success – when maybe it wasn’t that necessary to take the hard line.

    Sure, I suppose reading the whole book gives a better sense of Chua’s view of parenting, but still: all that controversy with the book – I doubt that Chua will cry to the bank. (though: I kind of expected that a Yale Law prof would have better sense of responsibility about all the craziness that ensued. Just sayin’).

    And, because we’re APA lawyers: please note that Yul Kwon’s leaving the FCC (them’s the feds) to go back to tv (PBS, but still – tv!). He will likely not be shirtless on PBS. That’s ok. Sort of.

    Slate’s Farhad Manjoo points out why we don’t need to do two spaces between sentences anymore.  Sorry, but I was taught to use two spaces after a period when typing. Yes, it is an ingrained and arbitrary habit done over 20 years now. But, it’s not like I’m really wasting space. Plus, I find seeing space is easier on the eyes. But, that’s just me… 😛

    The new horoscope sign: Ophiuchus.   CNN notes that there’s more to this whole horoscope change than we think though.

    So it goes, I guess.  I’m not impressed by 2011 so far (besides the Jets making the universe all very weird).  Maybe 2011 will get better.  Eventually.

  • Martin Luther King, Jr., Day 2011

    Among the things we remember when we think of Martin Luther King, Jr., is the “I Have a Dream Speech,” as David Weigel of Slate notes.  The story behind the speech, in the Washington Post, by Clarence B. Jones, MLK’s lawyer and speechwriter.  Thanks to a hat tip from Swampland at Time.com, I also link to the Stanford collection of MLK materials.

    Thought that it was interesting that the NYC Bar posted this on their website: a reflection of Martin Luther King’s speech at the City Bar in 1965.  Institutions with long histories have really fascinating histories.  The City Bar notes:

    In his 1965 speech, Dr. King called on the moral and practical obligations of the legal profession to justice and the rule of law in America:

    “Standing before you in the House of this Association, whose very cornerstone is an abiding respect for the law, I am impelled to wonder who is better qualified to demand an end to this debilitating lawlessness, to better understand the mortal danger to the very fabric of our democracy when human rights are flaunted.”

    He reaffirmed that, despite violence and legal segregation, his faith in the law and lawyers as instruments of justice had not been shaken, continuing:

    “Your profession should be proud of its contributions. You should be aware, as indeed I am, that the road to freedom is now a highway because lawyers throughout the land, yesterday and today, have helped clear the obstructions, have helped eliminate roadblocks, by their selfless, courageous espousal of difficult and unpopular causes.”

    Finally, Dr. King expressed hope that America, even in the face of fierce opposition, would ultimately fulfill its promise as a country of legal equality, proclaiming that “I do not despair of the future.  We as Negroes will win our freedom all over our country because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is America’s destiny.”

    NY Times’ City Room blog, with a post by Sam Roberts, notes MLK’s relationship with NYC.

    PBS NewsHour’s Rundown blog has a nice list of MLK-related things.

    Slate posts a fascinating slide show of MLK-related images.

    Things to think about on this day.  It’s the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, when this country’s lack of civility and the revolution took another step to end slavery and make a better union.  Progress isn’t inevitable; but that doesn’t mean we give it up.  We need to figure that out.

  • Happy New Year, 2011!

    Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year 2011!

    Andrew Cuomo has been sworn in; we have a new governor in NYS, and he acknowledges that he has a lot to do and he has already started it.

    Lina Kulchinksy, lawyer-pastry chef-pretzel maker, branching out to a cart.

    The very dangerous and probably illegal but terribly exciting and exotic thing about touring NYC’s tunnels.

    On New Year’s Day, the NHL had to push the Winter Classic – the outdoor hockey game with Penguins v. Capitals – until the evening but still in the rain, since the temperature was too warm.  It’s possible that the tv ratings came off well for NBC and the NHL, but I kind of wondered if NBC got lucky, since the bowl games weren’t on that evening and it was otherwise a quiet tv prime time night.  The Capitals won, with the Penguins star Sidney Crosby getting dinged to the ice by the Capitals.

    I personally like watching the game since it’s kind of crazy to watch hockey be played outdoors, but to make it a new prime time tradition?  Hard to say.  The stunning effect of hockey outdoors in a baseball or football stadium just looks cooler during the daytime.  But, that’s my two cents on the subject.

    Also, the Daily News in the hockey section (can’t find a web version of this) posed the question of whether the NHL might consider having the NY Rangers host a future Winter Classic on New Year’s Day.  Apparently, Yankee Stadium might not be available for such a venture, since they now host a bowl (seriously?  Yes!: the Pinstripe Bowl with Syracuse v. Kansas!  And Syracuse won!).  I mean, that’s  too bad and all (Fenway did host a Winter Classic, but aren’t Bostonians bigger hockey fans than New Yorkers?).  Then again, apparently, the Daily News noted that it’d be even tougher to do a Meadowlands Winter Classic, since the Devils would want to be in on it and the national ratings for a Devils v. Rangers game wouldn’t be hot at all, even on New Year’s Day.  Oh well.  Wishful thinking!

    Movies that I saw during the holidays:

    Saw “The King’s Speech” at Cobble Hill.  Colin Firth really gets at the feelings and struggles of the stutterer Bertie, a.k.a. Prince Albert, the Duke of York and then George VI, and Geoffrey Rush was great at the speech therapist who had his own imperfections.  Helena Bonham Carter, as Elizabeth, Duchess of York (future Queen Mother to Queen Elizabeth II), was quite good; as Dana Stevens noted on Slate’s Culture Gabfest, Bonham Carter was acting as her old “Merchant Ivory self” rather than her recent career trend acting as crazy costumed woman – see “Alice in Wonderland,” “Sweeney Todd,” the Harry Potter movies, etc.).

    The craziness and the banality of the Royal Family really got through; Firth as Bertie, who struggled with the balance of duty and loyalty to his father and his brother and a lot of other baggage – and happiness with his wife and daughters.  Bertie was also admirable for his loyalty to his country – in the face of World War II, he didn’t have actual power, but had to be the face of one of the un-invaded countries in Europe to stand up to Nazi Germany.

    Is “The King’s Speech” the Best Picture for the Oscars?  I can’t really say, but it had a lot of stuff going for it, I thought, because Bertie was facing a modern world and the traditional trappings behind it.  There were the emotions, hopes, failings, and humanity in all involved.

    Saw “Tangled” at the Park Slope Pavilion.  Even if a little derivative in putting together stuff from “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid,” the movie was sweet and heart-warming, in a great old-fashioned Disney way.  Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi are pretty talented voices actors.  Who knew that Levi (Chuck from “Chuck”) had it in him?  And, it was nice that Rapunzel was no wallflower; she wanted to see the world – and was willing to help everyone else along the way (which it took some time for Flynn Rider to figure out too – talk about a protagonist who was willing to make a sacrifice to do the right thing).

    NY Times’ dance critic Alistair Macaulay makes some conclusions from his project of seeing way lots more Nutcrackers than most of us normal folk.

    Oh, and Time Out New York on what 2011 things to look forward to checking out.

    I hate that the holidays are winding up.  But, let’s see what’s next.