Author: ssw15

– Some interesting remarks about “American Idol” on Slate.com – personally, I still can’t believe that the red-headed young man from upstate NYS is still on “American Idol” after yesterday’s weak performance.

– Tonight, other than “American Idol,” I’ve also watched the full hour of “The O.C.” on FOX. Interesting show. I’m impressed that they managed to do a little Passover in their episode today. Nicely acted and tightly written (or certainly feels like it is well-written). But, if this is California, where are the people of color? (there seems to be some indication of Latinos, I suppose). Where are the Asians? (well, they weren’t on “Dawson’s Creek” and had limited appearances on “Friends”)…

– Alistair Cooke recently passed away. He was host of “Masterpiece Theatre”; it was before I started watching it (I’ve been watching more of it since Russell Baker became host), but I grew up appreciating and enjoying Alistair Cookie of Monsterpiece Theatre of Sesame Street, as Muppet-inspired as it was. Cooke has an impact, I can say that much and I liked all the articles on Cooke’s style and work. Slate.com has an interesting article, reflecting how the British saw him as the Americanized chap who could report on Americans while the Americans saw him as an English gentleman – when he was an American citizen who still reported for BBC all these years.

– NY Times’ Dining Section profiles this guy who takes digital pictures of his food, to keep a food diary. Kind of scary to think about – do you really want to keep that good a track of what you eat, visually anyway?

– And, in Asian-American news:
Asia Society appoints an Asian-American female art historian to be its president. Vishakha N. Desai, a scholar of classical Indian art, will be in charge in July 2004. Yay for Asian American women!

Beware the April Fool’s Day thing.

– Men’s NCAA Basketball Final Four: Georgia Tech v. Oklahoma State; Duke v. UConn. The only thing I got right was Duke, and I didn’t even pick Duke to be the final two or final one. Oh, well. Should be an interesting pair of games – wonder if UConn will beat Duke…? (the only “local” team left is UConn…)

– This weekend, I finished reading “An Antic Disposition” by Alan Gordon. Great, great book of a great series. Series summary: the series takes place in the late 12th century Europe; the protagonist the mysterious jester Feste of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” is more than meets the eye, in acting not just as a comedian but as a catalyst of geo-political matters of the times). The latest book is a version of “Hamlet,” picking up themes that Mr. Gordon has put in place in the series – and it’s such a wonderfully emotional story. Lest ye think that this isn’t blog-relevant, be advised that according to the bookjackets of each book in the series, Mr. Gordon is an attorney for Legal Aid Society in Queens – a member of the profession with remarkable talent.

– Actor/writer/humanitarian Peter Ustinov passed away yesterday. He will be remembered for a lot of things; I enjoyed watching him in one or two PBS documentaries, where he had such a sophisticated air and lovely plummy accent while regaling on the romance of the Orient Express. One of his more famous roles was as the famous fictitious Orient Express detective, Agatha Christie’s Hercules Poirot.

– On a pleasant note, baseball season is coming, baseball season is coming!!!

In honor of the upcoming event at the alma mater law school (and, anyway, some American universities, including my undergraduate alma mater, will be celebrating Asian/Pacific American month in April), I will (try to) be a better Asian-American and thus, consider the following observations for this blog entry:

– So, Michelle Kwan is a bronze medalist at the World Championships in figure skating? Ah, well.

– I so like the diversity and complexity of Asian art – as the NY Times’ art write Holland Carter notes:

“Asia Week is a fast-moving feast, and you have to move fast to keep up with it. Delectable objects, trailing price tags behind them, whiz into town and are gone. The meal itself requires marathon sprints between Manhattan art fairs, auctions and galleries, not to mention Asia-intensive institutions like the Metropolitan Museum, Japan Society and Asia Society, all with new shows this spring. By the end of the week, if you’ve stayed the course, you may or may not have had your fill of art, but you will certainly have touched down in more Asias than you ever knew existed.”

Now, if only I had time to check out all this stuff. Sounds so great.

– NY Times’ article on Japan’s mixed feelings about Asian foreign students, and the Asian foreign students’ mixed feelings about being in Japan – this was an interesting read. Not sure what it necessarily says about intra-Asian relations – yes, Japan knows it needs an influx of new ideas and strengths and labors – but doesn’t necessarily welcome those who aren’t Japanese; yes, others Asians would like to benefit from higher education offered in Japan, but if they’re not welcomed, they’re not inclined to stay in Japan. Hmm.

– I thought that there are some way-too-dedicated NY Yankees fans out there, but apparently the Japanese arguably take baseball more seriously than anyone else – way too seriously.

– I know next to nothing about cricket, that other sport involving a stick and a ball, but apparently it’s real popular in the Asian subcontinent – and maybe it can pave the way to peace in that region. Personally, I think India and Pakistan competing over their cricket is infinitely more preferable to fighting with nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

Enjoy yet-another-work-week and congratulations on getting through yet another Monday.