Author: ssw15

So, I’ve actually been watching “Law and Order” in its 18th (!) season since the premiere on 1/3/08 (ok, actually, I missed an episode), since I wanted to see how Sam Waterston’s Jack McCoy would do as the (acting? interim?) DA, while Fred Thompson’s DA Arthur Branch was… actually, I’m still not clear on Branch’s fate, since it wasn’t made apparent on-screen (although, we all know that Thompson was trying to be a presidential candidate; wonder what will happen to Thompson now that the presidential candidate gig’s over and – eventually – once the writers’ strike ends? Will he back on L&O?).

Anyway, note that I haven’t sat for a whole L&O episode in years and I don’t practice criminal law. So, watching full episodes turned out to have been strangely entertaining. The ripped-from-the-headlines plots are starting to feel unintentionally funny (I had laugh out loud moments at rather inopportune moments, particularly when I recognized from what headline the plot was ripped from). McCoy as the DA is kind of interesting – he’s appointed to the position, he’s dealing with a balancing act, and he’s got more power than he really wants – plus, the folks of the DA’s office are starting to realize his age (kind of sad when it’s a blackout and the female ADA notes that they’d have to drag out McCoy’s ancient typewriter to work on something). Jesse L. Martin as Detective Ed Green is still a looker; and S. Epatha Merkerson as the Lieutenant – well, thumbs up; she’s got the acting chops, even if I find the writing silly.

The new castmembers:

Jeremy Sisto’s Detective Cyrus Lupo manages to have more character backstory than just about every other L&O character in only his first ten minutes. He’s not so bad, once you get over the whole “I was away from the precinct, and now I’m back!” circumstance for his character.

McCoy’s replacement as Executive ADA, Michael Cutter, is played by Linus Roache – yet another British actor playing American, which I didn’t realize until I checked imdb.com. Note that Roache played Thomas Wayne in “Batman Begins” – the doomed dad to Bruce Wayne and Gotham City crime victim. Roache plays Cutter as a Blackberry addict who has a weird New York/New England accent (well, Roache did play Robert F. Kennedy at one point); I think he’s easy on the eyes (well, I am a sucker for the Brits who play Americans well).

I agree with TV Guide’s Matt Roush – L&O is feeling refreshed:

Jeremy Sisto brings a solid, no-nonsense gravity to new detective Cyrus Lupo, brought onto the beat with an assisted-suicide case that hits close to home. (This episode ends with a courtroom twist that may be a first in the show’s nearly 400-episode history.) More notable this season, because of Sam Waterston’s longevity, is Jack McCoy’s promotion to top DA, making way for Linus Roache as enjoyably scrappy and impulsive new prosecutor Michael Cutter, who ruffles Jack’s composure: “What do you do for fun, Mike, juggle chain saws with my neck on the line?”

This TV Guide article acknowledges the re-energized L&O, but seemed to forget what Roush notes: Roache as Cutter. Yeah, Mike’s the ace in the hole – he managed to almost botch the blackout kidnapping/murders case by letting Green and Lupo do a search without a warrant (Mike Cutter making Jack McCoy feel sick – see quote above), can’t seem to lose his Blackberry, but pulls off a compelling closing argument in this week’s episode. Thumbs up!

So, even the NY Times is covering how the Big Law Firms have to reform billable hours. Does this, as Lisa Belkin writes, make the firms cuddlier for addressing work/life balance? But, really, they wouldn’t have done this unless their clients started to become resistant about paying for over-paid law firm associates (well, overpaid compared to us public service/public interest lawyers who aren’t making anything in comparison for work in the public interest).

The NY Times does a fascinating profile of Judge Margarita Lopez Torres, after the US Supreme Court ruled against her case New York State Board of Elections v. López Torres.

The legal problems of Filipino nurses, who face a dilemma in being desired as employees but then don’t get fair treatment as employees (the irony is palpable). Yes, you owe a duty to your patients/clientele, but what is an employee to do when avenues to negotiate for better labor conditions aren’t working?

And, speaking of tv and not law, this article further explains the changes on what was once “Masterpiece Theatre,” which was made apparent on the “Masterpeice” website. No more “Mystery!” – as it got pulled into the “Masterpiece” umbrella. No more majestic theme song. What’s really left then? “Quality”? Let’s hope so, for the combined sake of “Masterpiece” and PBS.

This NY Times article by Melissa Clark on fondue made me want to eat warm gooey cheese.

Oh, and since I’m on L&O and I seem to have great timing: the reviews are out for “Come Back, Little Sheba” – and they’re raving for S. Epatha Merkerson in her role as Lola, who lost the cat Little Sheba and, more importantly, is a Desperate Houswife in a truer sense than those one Wisteria Lane. I’ve admired how the cast of L&) have been able to go back and forth with screen (big and small) and stage – it shows a love of the art and their strengths as actors. Sounds like this version of “Little Sheba” has great stuff with Merkerson and Kevin Anderson, who plays her alcoholic chiropractor husband (to whom TV hasn’t been as kind, at least not ABC when they treated the show, “Nothing Sacred” so badly – Anderson was the priest who had – umm – issues… people back in the 90’s weren’t keen on shows that had “quality” and took on issues of faith and public interest, oh well…)

The sad passing of former American ice skater, Christopher Bowman – the story of decline despite having been a showman on skates.

Last but not least – the passing of actor Heath Ledger – I haven’t seen a lot of Ledger’s work – haven’t gotten to “Brokeback Mountain,” “A Knight’s Tale” still on my movies to watch list (that one kind of matches my not-great taste in movies), and I’m eager for the next “Batman” movie, where Ledger played the Joker (sad that that gets to be the last role – it may not be the bet way to go? But, if it works well as “art,” perhaps that’s not so bad?). Ledger’s appreciation for NYC – Brooklyn, in particular – is something to salute.I hate the media circus that’s covering his death; I do admire the appraisals from the movie critics, which were respectful and evoked a person and artist who’s gone too soon for a full career of potential.

In honor of the day, consider checking out the slideshow on Slate: “In Memoriam: Martin Luther King, Jr.”

Fascinating interview in NY Times Magazine with Maya Soetoro-Ng, Barack Obama’s sister, who identifies herself as “I’m half white, half Asian. I think of myself as hybrid. People usually think I’m Latina when they meet …”

On a far less thoughtful note: the teaser trailer of the new Star Trek movie – it looks cool; it almost took my breath away. Heavy emphasis on “almost.” I so don’t know whether to be terrified that it’d be crap or be excited because it might actually be good (J.J. Abrams has bummed me out with how “Alias” ended after all, plus, re-booting Star Trek – well, honestly, it’s not like re-booting the “Bond, James Bond,” or “Batman” franchises). Oh, well. We can always have the best of thoughts for the future, can’t we?

Oh my – the Giants pulled it off; they’re going to the Super Bowl!!!

A NY Times look at the Cambodian immigrants of NYC.

Apparently, you can’t use the cold as your excuse to avoid outdoor exercise. Oh well. Guess old-fashioned laziness will do just fine.

This NY Times article about these guys selling books to the Strand — well, it reminds me: Got to get around to selling some of these unwanted (to me, anyway) books in the house…

In the Theater section of the NY Times: this sounds like a great review on the works of some major British actors doing Shakespeare: Zoe Wanamaker, Simon Russell Beale, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Ewan McGregor; so cool!

Hmm, so now the NY Times has gotten its say on the Austen stuff on PBS. Considering that I’ve never read “Northanger Abbey” or “Mansfield Park,” the movie adaptations of these two might prove interesting. For Americans, take note: “Mansfield Park” stars Billie Piper, the ex-Rose of the current incarnation of “Doctor Who.”

The passing of actor Allan Melvin, character actor known as “Sam the Butcher,” the love interest of Alice on “The Brady Bunch,” plus his roles on “All in the Family” and so forth.

The passing of actress Suzanne Pleshette; nice tribute by Time critic Richard Corliss.

I think I might have OD’d the political watching this weekend. The ABC/Facebook/WMUR debate on Saturday ended up being really interesting. Heck, these debates are reality tv – only with way much more stakes involved (like, you know, the future of the country). Alliances – implied or opportune – as McCain, Huckabee, Giuliani ganged up on Romney during the Republican debate; Edwards jumping on to (kind of) Obama’s side in slamming Clinton; Clinton deriving anger/passion in fending off Edwards; Romney looking like deer in headlights. Political reporter’s pointing out to Hillary Clinton that people didn’t find her likable, with Hilary pulling off a witty little comeback and Obama’s less-than-nice quip of “You’re likeable enough, Hillary.” Romney’s remark that the pharmaceuticals aren’t that bad – kind of eye-rolling, that (you do realize people don’t like the big corporations because they’ve the deep pockets, don’t you, Mitt?). Bill Richardson sat in the middle of the Democrat table looking like he was just glad to be there.

Big plus that only happens with live tv: Charlie Gibson as moderator made quite the move in bringing the Dems and the GOP’ers on the stage at the same time after the GOP debate ended but before the Dem debate started. Talk about a gem of a photo op! What one would do to know what the candidates were all saying to each other (imagine: Hillary to Rudy Giuliani: “You missed Iowa, Rudy; guess you had a nice New Year’s?” Or Obama to McCain: “John, did you get the scores for the football games?”).

Apparently, the ratings for the debate is looking pretty good. But, it was Saturday night, when there wasn’t all that much on tv anyway (except maybe football), and things are getting hot with the elections.

The FOX Republican debate on Sunday was slightly less interesting (no weird libertarian stuff from Ron Paul). The pundits seem to think that Romney came off better, but I didn’t quite feel that way. Then again, I’m not leaning Republican, so who am I to say? At least this was actually easier to stomach than what moderator Chris Wallace’s dad was doing that same hour: Mike Wallace’s interview of pitcher Roger Clemens was no easy watch at all.

An interesting NY Times’ article: “In Response to MTA’s ‘Say Something’ Ads, a Glimpse of Modern Fears,” in explaining those ads where MTA claimed that 1944 people “saw something and said something.” As the article noted, whether what’s reported really led to an anti-terrorism lead… well, that’s something else, isn’t it? William Neuman writes:

What, exactly, did those 1,944 New Yorkers see, and what did they say? Presumably, no active terror plots were interrupted, or that would have been announced by the authorities.

Now, an overview of police data relating to calls to the hot line over the past two years reveals the answer and provides a unique snapshot of post-9/11 New York, part paranoia and part well-founded caution. Indeed, no terrorists were arrested, but a wide spectrum of other activity was reported.

The vast majority of calls had nothing to do with the transit system.

Some callers tried to turn the authority’s slogan on its head. These people saw nothing but said something anyway — calling in phony bomb threats or terror tips. At least five people were arrested in the past two years and charged with making false reports.

Eleven calls were about people seen counting in the subway, which was interpreted as ominous by some.

One thing the overview did not clear up: just where did the number 1,944 come from? Police and transit officials could not say exactly. [….]

Gold Rain – a very pretty slide show on the NY Times website, by photographer Robert Caplin: “A look at how the sun paints New York’s nooks and crannies over the course of the year.”

Slate article on how the battle to end billable hours that the law firms deal with may have to be fought by the clients, those unhappy in-house corporations, pissed by the expense involved.

Speaking of how expensive the law firms are making things, Chief Justice Roberts apparently is reminding Congress in his year end report that it’s kind of unfair that judges make less than a first year associate at one of these big law firms. Well, that is a grim reality, isn’t it? Heck, the Big Firm 1st Year Associate makes more than a Congressman…

Sadly, U of Hawaii lost to the Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl; what a sad game to have watched (and I didn’t even watch that much of it).

I liked this NY Times analysis of the NHL New Year’s Winter Classic game. Richard Sandomir writes:

The National Hockey League needed a game like Tuesday’s outdoor Winter Classic. In its fight for the attention of sports fans, it requires events that set it apart. It needed a tight game — this one was won in a shootout by the Penguins star Sidney Crosby — and an entertaining broadcast by NBC’s group of exhilarated announcers. It needed to build a regulation-size rink inside Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., for a game that started in daylight and ended at dusk.

But most of all, it needed the snow, the sleet, the rain and the wind.

More meaningful games than Pittsburgh’s beating Buffalo, 2-1, will be played in arenas. But the league can only benefit from the merger of a well-played hockey game with Green Bay football weather before 71,217 fans.

You can’t plan on staging a hockey game in which viewers need to squint through snow to watch. Given global warming, any future Winter Classics located in traditionally cold climes may end up being played in 70-degree conditions with melting ice and players skating in shorts.

But Tuesday was ideal: a game that featured wintry weather from start to finish; several unplanned breaks to shovel away snow and scrape away ice by human Zambonis; weather radar and forecasts; and the announcers Mike Emrick, Ed Olczyk and Darren Pang working without any buffer from the weather. [….]

The broadcast was defined by weather references unneeded inside arenas, where the average temperature is a reported 62 degrees.

“They’re trading scoring chances in the sleet,” Olczyk said.

“There’s a solid layer of snow on the ice,” Pang said.

“We’re tied,” Emrick said in the third period. “More snow coming.”

Olczyk and Emrick were situated on an elevated perch about 15 yards from the rink and 15 feet off the ground. Olczyk, who played for the Rangers and is a former Penguins coach, went hatless, prompting friends and others to text him to ask if he had applied hair-immobility gel.

“It was hard, with the elements, to write,” he said. “We had plexiglass over our notes, but the water seeped through the cracks.” They showed their notes, bleeding with colorful inks, late in the game. [SSW: A funny scene, I must say! Meanwhile, Bob Costas was warm inside, while Pang had to wear hats to cover his bald head…]

He added: “At times, it was difficult to see. It was never a white-out, but the near boards were obscured once in a while. I like to look at body language, but when you’re that close, and you’re in the elements, it’s difficult to pick out the guys.”

The game was designed to be a reminder of hockey’s outdoor roots of children playing on backyard rinks and iced-over ponds. Olczyk and his youngest son skate on a pond behind his Chicago home “and my wife yells at me to put his hat over his ears.” The last time he played in weather like Tuesday’s was as a midget player on an old rink in Chicago’s North Shore.

“It’s in our blood,” he said.

The league must have known the risk of trying to attract a major audience for Tuesday’s 1 p.m. Eastern game with competition coming from two overlapping college bowls (the Outback and the Cotton) and two others (the Gator and the Capital One) that started at the same time.

John Collins, the league’s senior executive vice president, acknowledged that New Year’s Day was a competitive day for future Classics, “but it’s a day where the N.H.L. should have a place in the conversation.”

“We should stand tall on a day like Jan. 1 and put a claim on it,” he said. “There are benefits to Jan. 1, but it’s not etched in stone. It was Jan. 1 this year because the NBC guys had a vision for what it could be and pushed hard for it.” [….]

So, I guess I’ll give NBC credit. And, as I said, it just looked really, really amazing on big screen HDTV… Anyway, I’m not saying it’d be an annual New Year’s tradition, but message to NBC and NHL: do it again! …

Well, I did miss the glowing hockey puck from the FOX productions of hockey games; that would have helped with the visibility!

Watched the late night shows – channel changing and VCR usage going on – on the first night that they were back. Tough positions for Conan and Leno to be in; but good for Letterman to get a deal with the Writers’ Guild. Jacques Steinberg and Bill Carter did the write up for the NY Times on the shows’ re-appearance to the small screen; the NY Times’ Alessandra Stanley has an interesting review of the late night viewing.

My opinion: Conan made a nice balance of seriousness and amusement. The strike beard he had – he’s right; it does make him look like Kris Kringle from the old “Santa’s Coming to Town” cartoon. Plus, I had to laugh at the Watch Conan Spin His Wedding Ring on The Desk. Well, what can you do without writers? Meanwhile, Dave Letterman’s mostly white beard made him look strangely cheery, even smug. His show, with writers, got quite biting with the pro-union sentiment. Watched some of the Leno interview of Huckabee, but not that much; the Leno monologue was okay, I guess, but I’m not much of a Leno watcher to begin with. Craig Ferguson’s opening skit with the sheep was hilarious. Ah, well!

At the hour that I’m posting this, it’s the wee hours of the morning of Jan. 4, so I’m still digesting the Iowa Caucus stuff. Turned out to be more exciting than I expected; we’re really living in history! Too bad about Senator Biden’s deciding to drop out; I wished he could have stayed on for one more debate. He brought some real thoughtfulness to things. Actually, the Democrats have been interesting; it’s been really something, I have to say – more than mudslinging. Are we heading for change, and how? Obama v. Edwards v. Clinton – let’s see how it gets hashed out in New Hampshire, and the road to Super Duper Duper Duper Tuesday. Heck, even the Republicans’ side of things is turning out to be quite the spectator sport, with Huckabee making Romney sweat now.

But, still – I feel weird that Election 2008 came so early. It’s long in coming (yeah, since 2006, a friend of mine reminded me), but it feels so rushed and long. This post from NBC News’ Nightly News blog, “Daily Nightly” written by Andy Franklin, NBC News producer, raises an excellent point:

We see some variation of this ritual every four years, though it hasn’t always started in Iowa — or started this early. Forty-eight years ago today — on January 2nd, 1960 — Senator John F. Kennedy was just getting around to announcing that he was a candidate for president. The 2nd fell on a Saturday that year, and with little else making news that first weekend of the New Year, Kennedy hoped to make a splash in the Sunday morning papers. He did. But the actual contests themselves were a still a long way off. The first primary, in New Hampshire, was two months away; Kennedy (from neighboring Massachusetts) was unopposed, and won easily. Wisconsin, Illinois and others followed in April. But the contest that would prove decisive — the West Virginia primary — did not take place until May.

Goodness – back in the day, we really slogged it out with the campaigning, huh? And, at least, the candidates and the voters got Christmas for their own. Oh, well. Got to hand it to the Iowans – as much as we thinking caucusing is weird or has drawbacks, it got them to think about the issues or the candidates in more ways than ordinary voting may yield. We’ll see what’s next…

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I miss 2007 already.

The Saturday before New Year’s Eve: watched Charlie Wilson’s War at the the Park Slope Pavilion. Movie’s directed by Mike Nichols, co-produced and starred by Tom Hanks, and written by Aaron Sorkin. It was an entertaining movie; classic Sorkin moments (excessive politician who does some womanizing, drinking, and drugging who learns to do more with what power he does have; the walking and talking in the halls of power, such as when Congressman Wilson (Hanks) is talking politics with the committee chair in Congress – a la Sorkin’s tv show, “West Wing”; and ideas to prevail to do good).

Ironic moments – in the sense that the movie tries real hard not to wonder who Congressman Wilson’s helping in sending money and equipment to Afghanistan via the CIA (since guess who became America’s problem by 2001, even when we didn’t realize it in the 1980’s), and the people Wilson met in Pakistan (the military dictatorship who disposed of Benazir Bhutto’s father; much too eerie to think of now that she herself is gone; timing can suck). Some silly raunchy, nude moments at the beginning of the movie (which I didn’t think was necessary, but oh well).

Is the movie Oscar worthy? I don’t know, but Hanks was good as usual as the man who didn’t want to care, until he did (and who was able to cash in his political chips very well, until he had to deal with Republicans and Democrats who stopped caring); Philip Seymour Hoffman was amusing as the CIA agent who’s frustrated by the bureaucracy; and Julia Roberts did well as the Texan socialite who cajoles Wilson to end Communism (he didn’t do it for her, but he got her point).

New Year’s Eve – dinner at Oven in Brooklyn Heights; tasty stuffed portobella mushroom appetizer, lovely eggplant pizza, and chocolate fondue! Reviews said it was pretty good; I’ll agree. Not bad pricing, either.

New Year’s Day – well, ok, got too lazy. But, what else is a day off for? Anyway, way cool New Year’s thing to watch: Winter Classic NHL – Buffalo Sabres v. Pittsburgh Penguins, playing hockey – outdoors, in the cold and snow. Apparently, after the Bills v. Giants game last week, they installed the rink in the football stadium – and more than 70,000 people came out to see the hockey game! Looked really exciting, not to mention insane; what a watch on the big screen HD TV. It’s amazing that this was the first time in the US that they did this. Bob Costas got a little silly, and Doc Emeric looked cold; everyone just seemed to have fun.

Just in time for Bowl season: an interesting story on an APA and the U of Hawaii, as their football team heads to the Sugar Bowl, along with their graduate assistant, Brian Kajiyama, who’s not only working on his Phd. in special education but also happens to have cerebral palsy.

I had Prof. Eric Foner back in college for American Radical History; in this NY Times op-ed, “Forgotten Step Toward Freedom,” he provides food for thought about a Jan. 1 upon which importation of slaves ended.

More history:a trip to Asia, and the early Kodak pictures from them – 100 years ago – with William Taft (the future President and US Supreme Ct. Chief Justice), Alice Roosevelt (the then President’s daughter), and others – discovered in one man’s old family albums:

The old photo albums were such a familiar part of the Woods family’s Adirondack camp that no one paid them much notice. But when the 21-year-old James T. Stever took a closer look at the nearly 1,000 rare photographs that his great-great-grandfather Harry Fowler Woods had taken a century ago, he saw them with fresh eyes.

The sepia-toned black-and-white pictures showed candid moments from a groundbreaking diplomatic mission to the Far East, which William Howard Taft and a large entourage of congressmen, senators, businessmen and others made in 1905 at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt. Mr. Woods, an amateur photographer and businessman who was a friend of Taft’s from their native Cincinnati, captured the heady atmosphere of the three-month trip with the new hand-held cameras that had just come on the market.

When Mr. Stever came across the pictures in 2004, along with Mr. Woods’s neatly typed captions, he was unaware that they documented a pivotal time in America’s diplomatic past, a moment when the country was beginning to flex its imperialist muscles. [….]

Members of the large Woods family agreed to part with the albums to save them. Margo T. Stever, Mr. Stever’s mother, who is not only Mr. Woods’s great-granddaughter but also distantly related to Taft, stepped in to direct the project.

Ms. Stever, a poet who lives in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., organized a team of curators, designers and writers (including Mr. Stever, who is now a 24-year-old graduate student in history at Brown University). She also worked with Friends of the William Howard Taft Birthplace in Cincinnati to raise more than $100,000 to make digital scans of the century-old prints and produce explanatory material.

A result is a traveling show, “Looking East: William Howard Taft and the 1905 Mission to Asia,” that will go on view Jan. 17 at the Nippon Club in Manhattan and run through Feb. 8. The rescue project also produced a Web site, ohiohistory.org/tafttrip; a museum catalog, which will be available free at the Nippon Club; and a teacher’s guide for middle school and high school students.

During the holidays (or making just dealing with regular life), things are sounding rather uncomfortable in Hollywood, with striking writers and the entertainment executives bumping into each other.

Some tv stuff:

The late night shows are about to be back (with guests? who knows…), even though the writers’ strike is still on. At least David Letterman got a deal with the writers, so he’ll be back with writers. Can’t the networks/studio/production companies come to a settlement already? Let’s be creative; at least, I thought that’s the nature of your industry. Negotiations take some kind of thought. Think about it.

Say goodbye to CourtTV, which is re-branding itself as TruTV. I saw the commercial promoting its new identity – “It’s Not Reality; It’s Actuality.” There’s such a word as “actuality”? Apparently, they wanted to get away from the bad connotations of the phrase “reality tv.” Forget that; unless you’re showing documentaries (what I’d call non-fiction programming, at the least), you’re still “reality tv” (which may not mean you’ve elevated your level of quality). Plus, what will happen to all those legal-ish shows that Court TV used to do…? Oh, well. Guess they’re trying to stay on the air and make a buck.

If you don’t have cable or you’ve an old tv, got to get that transmitter to make your tv digital ready by Feb. 2009. Coupons from the feds to get you going, so says Yahoo/Associated Press.

The thing I never quite liked about Year In Review (particularly those that come out, say, before Christmas) is that they may wind up missing what happens the last six days of the year (like this year, when Pakistan’s serious business in the news, or say the year of the Indonesian tsunami).

My personal Year In Review? Notable stuff –

January 2007 – got on the Alternate List for Strange New Worlds 10 – so close to getting published for one of my stories!

The California vacation in September 2007.

My National Novel Writing Month novel, in November 2007, “Bread and Circuses” – done!

Joined Facebook. (yeah, it’s notable, since it’s kind of one of those 21st Century habits now).

Stretched myself somewhat with my reading – actually trying to read more poetry; plus visiting more museums.

There are probably lots of other stuff that happened this year that I’m not thinking about, but it’s somewhere around triscribe.

Well, okay – one item of thought about 2007 – campaigns came out way too early. I felt bad that the Iowans must have had Christmas a little messed up with the non-stop campaign commercials and the fact that the states went nuts with going for Super Duper Duper Tuesday for 2008. Real Clear Politics blog on Time.com, in its post on “Why Not Biden?” asked a question that kind of made a point to me:

One name conspicuously missing from the discussion is Joe Biden, who probably has more real experience in the foreign policy workings of the United States government than all the other Democrats running for president combined.

Indeed, Clinton’s “closing argument” in Iowa – we live in serious times that demand a person with enough experience to step into the White House and lead from day one – is in many ways an effective argument in favor of Joe Biden. [….]

Yet, Biden’s not going to be taken seriously, as the post notes. Bill Richardson – much experience, too. In the end, are the voters really thinking about “experience” or about who has the strength, power, and money to pull off the election? Well, who knows? 2008 may be interesting; I just wish it’d be more peaceful than 2007.

NY Times profiling a NYC electrician who heads the team that takes care of the lighting on the Brooklyn Bridge; wow. Jake Mooney writes:

BECAUSE Ben Cipriano is a wisecracking kind of guy, maybe it’s best to begin his story in the form of a joke: How many electricians does it take to screw in all the light bulbs on the Brooklyn Bridge? The answer is six. Not much of a punch line, but it has the advantage of being factually correct. [….]

We check in with Mr. Cipriano just now because of the mayor’s announcement this month that a host of city landmarks, including the Brooklyn Bridge, will soon be outfitted with new, energy-efficient bulbs. The bulbs — light-emitting diodes, actually — should last much longer than the existing bulbs, which themselves last for years. One wonders what this means for the future of bridge-top bulb-changing.

Do not worry, though, about Ben Cipriano. There is plenty of other work up there, and no one is sure how the new lights will respond to the extreme weather conditions. He will be watching closely, as he already does, whenever he drives past when the lights are on, or sees one of his bridges while watching television with his family.

“Maybe I should get a hobby,” he said. But getting the lights right is important to him, and the problem with the current lights, 100-watt mercury vapor bulbs, is that they turn green as they start to burn out. “Even if you have a couple of them out — 160 bulbs are up there — people are going to notice,” Mr. Cipriano said. “They don’t look so hot if you have some bright ones and some green ones and so on and so forth.” [….]

Up on top of the bridge, Mr. Cipriano still marvels at it all, this time from a place with an unobstructed 360-degree view. “People would pay to go up there,” he said, “and we’re getting paid to go up there.”

He has never been scared of heights, climbing up to work with two wires tethering him to the bridge cables. He wears brown shoes with rubber soles that squeak on the floor but are good for traction on the bridges — “no high heels, no fancy shoes with leather bottoms” — and he ties his screwdriver to his belt.

He also has, in his pocket, a little camera: 35-

millimeter before, digital now. He has spent enough time looking at New York to know what he likes. “No clouds is no good,” he said. “Overcast is no good, obviously. But if you have clouds in the background with the buildings, it’s just a great picture.”

NY Times on the New Year’s Eve falling ball of 1907 (i.e., New Year’s Day, 1908) – 100 years ago; Jim Rasenberger writes:

IF we could ride a great glimmering ball back to Times Square a century ago, we might see ourselves in the men and women who gathered there on New Year’s Eve of 1907.

Notwithstanding how they dressed or wore their hair, their lives were superficially similar to ours. They took the subway to work and lived in homes lighted by electricity. They talked on telephones, went to the movies and listened to music on their new Victrolas. They worried about their weight and wondered whether Christmas was becoming commercialized.

And on Dec. 31, 1907, for the first time, they did something that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers will do on Monday night: They celebrated the passing of ’07 into ’08 by watching an illuminated sphere falling from the sky.

Of course, not everything is quite the same. The ball that will descend in Times Square in the final seconds of 2007 is a far more sophisticated vessel than the one that made its debut at the end of 1907. This year’s incarnation, which is brand-new, will weigh 1,200 pounds and sparkle with 9,576 light-emitting diodes gleaming through Waterford crystal; a hundred years ago, the ball weighed 700 pounds and was illuminated by 216 incandescent bulbs.

But that first “electric ball,” as The New York Times referred to it, was dazzling enough to the people who poured into Times Square to see it. After 10 p.m., when the theaters let out, men in silk hats and women in furs swelled the crowd further. “An acrobat could hardly have managed to fall down for a wager, so tightly did the people hold each other up,” The New York Evening Sun reported the next day. [….]

Have a Happy New Year! See you in 2008!