Author: ssw15

Gung Hay Fat Choy! as we Cantonese might say (well, okay, conceding that my attempts to work on my Cantonese remain attempts). Best of luck…

A new look at MSG – maybe it’s not so bad, presuming the chef actually knows what he/she is doing?

I’ve been noticing this in the Romance section of the bookstores: somehow Harlequin and Nascar have joined forces to create books taking place in the world of Nascar. The linked article at least gave the backstory as to how this development came about. I haven’t ventured to read the books; I’m rather limited in time, although my paperback romance novel readings have been picking up again.

Personally, I’m disappointed by how the publishers of Harlequin decided to discontinue the Silhouette Romance line and transfer the authors to the Harlequin Romance line. Granted, these aren’t high-quality literary stuff, but they passed the time and bordered on sweet old-fashioned romance (plus, if you lucked out on reading a book that bordered on mainstream writing – clearly by a writer on a breakthrough – boy, is it good stuff).

But, Nascar? Well, I guess it’s good that they got permission to use the real brand’s name. It’s not entirely original to use a sports context for romance novels: author Susan Elizabeth Phillips has a romance novel series revolving in the world of the NFL, using a fictitious NFL team. But, Nascar? My bewildered reaction remains.

Having watched “The Queen” and seeing its portrayal of Britain’s Prime Minister Tony Blair back in more (for him anyway) hopeful times, it’s poignant to read about how things are for him these days. Talk about contrast.

Dahlia Lithwick points out the problems in Justice Kennedy’s testimony to Congress about federal judges’ needs. Notably, three things to think about for the federal judges: (a) protection of judicial independence; (b) protection from harm (like, say, from nutcases who want to do real harm on judges doing their job); (c) and obtaining better salaries (’cause it is kind of unfair that clerks who finish their clerkship earns more money than the judges, just by working for Big Firms that pay money that could – say, feed poor people; still, judges do earn more money than others in society – and get pensions, and decent benefits, so… oh well – it depends on your basis of comparison – do you compare federal judges’ salaries to that of associates at Big Firms, or to the Average Joe Schmoe?).

And, last but not least: at least someone’s warm – Yankees and Mets in spring training. Ex-Met Todd Pratt is trying out for the Yankees.

The cold and the snowish mixture (it’s not quite snow; it’s more like icier slush) and the strange Presidents’ Day tv commercials haven’t really made me in the mood for the Year of the Pig.

Argh – missed Thursday’s episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” and ABC opted NOT to re-run it on Friday night (instead, choosing to rerun the Super Bowl 2006 episode of Grey’s Anatomy – wherein Bomb Squad Guy kicked the bucket, among other things). Following up on the episode reviews on-line, it sounded like a major cool episode – at the least, the return of Bomb Squad Guy, and Denny the Sick Guy – since Meredith is – clinically, anyway – dead and paying a visit to the afterlife. Not sure what it may mean (I mean, how would it be “Grey’s Anatomy” if Grey isn’t on the show?) – but it just sounded cool. Bomb Squad Guy – played by the always watchable Kyle Chandler – ooh…

Plus, there’s a scene Cristina, who had wavered in telling Meredith about her engagement, had to tell her fiance, Burke, that she is upset about having not gotten to tell Meredith about the engagement – because Meredith’s her “person.” Can’t believe I missed that, of all things – there may be fans out there who dislike Meredith’s wishy-washy-ness or Cristina’s bitchiness, but their bond as best friends has been something I’ve always liked. Meredith had been there for Cristina, volunteering to be Cristina’s “person” (in the episode where Cristina needed someone to be with her as she decided what to do for her surprise pregnancy) – so it’s only fair that Cristina be there for Meredith. Unclear if Burke gets that about Meredith and Cristina (does he have friends? He kind of tried to befriend McDreamy, but I don’t think they’ve made it to the level of friends yet).

The passing of the Co-Inventor of the tv remote control. Considering how much I use the tv remote control, I’ll salute this guy.

Harvard becomes the 4th Ivy League school to have a woman president: Drew Gilpin Faust. Dr. Faust was interviewed on Lehrer’s Newshour on Monday night – and she noted that her being a historian is a plus. The journey toward the future continues.

Of course, I shall not be speaking for my undergraduate Alma Mater University; but I have to believe that one day, we too will have a woman president, sure. But, diversity in academia is still a work in progress.

Monday: I’m a bit behind on “Heroes,” having taped it and then just watched fleetingly by fast-forwarding through the storylines that I didn’t really care for (not that they’re bad storylines; they’re just not on my radar for the time being). Of note:
Hiro and Ando, the time-space bending guy and his sidekick, had a weird situation, now that they’re back in Las Vegas – but it was kind of a weak matter for them (if anything, Ando learns that falling for tall blondes may be dangerous for his and Hiro’s health).
I really find the Claire the Cheerleader storyline to be sincere and poignant – so she finds her bio-mom; bio-mom lacks some morals (well, if you go with the white trailer-park trash stereotype, hmm – surely there’s more to Meredith than that – and no, I hope she’s not Evil either); her bio-dad doesn’t want to meet her (or at least he says he doesn’t – but he’s clearly torn, because maybe he actually is a decent guy – still can’t be sure, because he’s a lawyer (oops) and a politician dealing with the final leg of his campaign (more oops)); her adopted dad – Glasses Man – well, he’s not terribly understanding toward her these days (no, not when he had let loose the Big Evil Mutant Man); and her adopted mom is suffering from severe memory loss (no thanks to Glasses Man’s mind-erasing Haitian sidekick, who erased Mrs. Bennett’s mind because Glasses Man thinks that’s the way to protect his family; yeah, right).

NBC’s sneak previews of the next episode of “Heroes” was irritating for hinting a little too obviously about who will die next. At least, I’m making my guess about Mrs. Bennett’s fate; I could be wrong. But, then again, I wasn’t surprised about who turned out to be Claire’s bio-dad; NBC has really got to avoid assigning the previews to the Promotions department – you’re not supposed to give away too much!
Also behind on “House” – got home too late, but managed to catch the end of Tuesday’s episode. House is still a basket-case jerk. I don’t believe him when he thinks he’ll find a way to end his pain (the physical pain; God only knows if his emotional pain will ever heal) – in the end, he uses his pain to define him and let him do what he will.

I liked that the episode made the three younger doctors a little interesting again – Foreman wonders if a doctor’s life really has room for a love life (umm, well, first, don’t take lessons from Dr. House about that). Cameron seems to be more willing to satisfy her physical needs rather than her desire for love – so she targets Chase. Chase, who once again proves why he’s a seminary school dropout, doesn’t seem too bothered that Cameron wants to have sex with him with no strings attached (mind you, they did that last season and she was foolish and vulnerable and he was – well – a fool (although he still strikes me as a guy who would find a way to make strings attach)). In real life, the actors who play Chase and Cameron are apparently engaged to each other – so it’s amusing.

However, FOX’s previews indicate that Cameron still has a fondness for House, though; sigh – get over him, Cameron!
See if snow will be anything at all in NYC; likely just a slippery mess. We are so not Oswego or anywhere upstate with the 10ft of snow…

Pardon the absence; life got in the way…!

Wed., Feb. 7, 2007 – attended a CLE seminar at the last minute at the City Bar – on “Blogs – Wave of the Future for the American Lawyer: Creation, Use, & Ethical Considerations.” Interesting – one of those programs that didn’t put me to sleep (uh, no, no, that never happens…) – three lawyers who blog about their subjects or about lawyers who blog. Kevin O’Keefe, Daniel Clement, and Troy Rosasco were the panelists.

According to O’Keefe, lawyer blogs, being specific to a legal subject, are “not advertising. Basis being that their primary purpose is not ‘the retention of the lawyer or law firm’” – and may be protected by Free Speech rights.  Kind of a relief to know!

The program was very fascinating stuff. Observations were made on the idea of lawyer blogs as networking or an easy way to get oneself published (as alternatives to law review and law journals).  I doubt we of Triscribe count under the state’s advertising restrictions, since we don’t advertise legal services. We just comment and, more often than not, we don’t even about the law. Personal blogging is all fine and dandy. Blogging, if nothing else, made us all Time People of the Year! Talk about societal change and being part of the wave of the future indeed.

Reading for last week: Arthur Miller’s The Crucible – gripping. I remembered reading it back in high school, and thinking it was creepy. Now with the outlook as adult and a lawyer – still creepy. The book managed to make me miss my subway stop.

How gripping it was – the Salem witch hunts going out of control and all the implications therein – the very harmfulness of theocracy; the rational mind losing out to the human flaws of jealousy, pride, and lust; the problem of witnesses with poor credibility – children or young women who had no power and then grabbing power by making the judges and the authorities listen to them.

Were they really possessed, or were they just playing with everyone? Abigail Williams pushing it too far by sending the Proctors to their doom; Mary Warren too weak-willed to resist; and John Proctor – poor man who wouldn’t give names, because the process was wrong. People believed in witches – and the way the girls were acting, how do you fight the irrational? The rule of law is nice, but what do you do when people are still… people?
This may have been associated with Miller’s times – the McCarthy witch hunts – but it was more than that – it’s timeless. The writing was great; as a movie or play – sure, that was nice (go ahead – watch the movie: the strangeness of seeing Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor – or, scarier – Wynona Ryder as Abigail), but there’s something of a difference in having the text itself.

A society in hysteria, Miller portrays and then there’s what we have these days: well, the whole Anna Nicole Smith thing – someone who invented herself for the media, and the media exploits back. It’s also wrong to compare Anna Nicole Smith to Miller’s ex-wife, Marilyn Monroe – Monroe actually had talent in acting. (umm, forgive me for noticing this about the dead). As Prof. Joanna Grossman notes on her Findlaw column: Smith’s “litigious life makes her unusual as well. Lawyers, courts, and perhaps juries will now be left to sort out the legal morass she left behind.” Ain’t that right. As FC notes: Smith’s litigious legacy is quite a bar exam question. 😀

Last but not least on a week in review: the passing of actor Ian Richardson.

Much, much pre-game coverage on Sunday. I mean, really – CBS had a show at NOON. Yeesh.

Ultimately, though, kudos to Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning, and the rest of the Colts. Quite a game. Really scary for a moment there when the Bears came ahead in the first 10 seconds, but then the Colts hanged in there. Sorry, Lovee Smith and the Bears – your Bad Rex Grossman as QB wasn’t quite it, and the Colts knew more of what they were doing.

Bears, maybe another time – I’m sure Smith can become the 2nd African-American coach to win the Super Bowl, next time. But, it was Dungy’s night – the teacher beating the protege; plus it was Peyton’s night, as he was a QB whose Super Bowl was long in coming.

The rain was a downer – lots of instances where the ball just slipped through fingers – but made it even between the teams. Well, not like I really know about football anyway – just my impressions.

Re: The half-time show – Prince was cool. Interesting way to grab the generations of music/football fans. I thought he’d sing more of his classics, but he made it a cool rock thing. I don’t think he much cared for the rain (who would?) – but he seemed to be enjoying the gig otherwise. No wardrobe malfunction, no weirdness (I mean, really – he is the guy who once insisted on being “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” and I guess he’s now “Prince, The Artist Who Was Once The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” and not to mention that he hasn’t given up his – um – symbol (or logo?)). Almost tame, really. Well, okay, I think the marching band was quite a touch, but hey, it was a football game – why not have one? Prince’s guitar riffs were cool, too. Can’t believe he’s gone… dare I say – mainstream? Liked the NY Times’ take on the performance too.

Re: Super Bowl ads – I wasn’t quite that attentive; the ads just didn’t come off feeling as good as they used to be.

I liked the Coke ads – quality stuff, even if not taking risks.

The ad with Kevin Federline (the ex-Mr. Britney Spears) was pointless – it wasn’t so much that he was slamming people who work McDonald’s jobs – it was that the ad was for Nationwide and did nothing for me as a promotion for the product.

The CareerBuilder.com ads – wherein the office/real world is compared to being in a jungle – a jungle you don’t want to be in – good stuff, really – they made me want to click on CareerBuilder.com and – oh, wait, I did register for CareerBuilder.com – and it hasn’t yet gotten me a new job. Oh well. Their ads were funny, as opposed to GoDaddy.com, where the sexy girls were uninteresting (true, I’m not the target for GoDaddy’s “sexy” ad, but I find gratuitous attractions to be simply that – gratuitous; I still don’t care to see what Godaddy.com does).

The Chevrolet ad where people were singing songs that had the word “Chevy” or related reference – interesting – though it reminded me of a Coke ad where the lady was singing a song and handing people Cokes. But, the Chevy singers sure loved their Chevies.

The Blockbuster commercial had the return of the animated pet store animals – trying to use a fellow pet store animal – a mouse no less – in lieu of a computer’s mouse to access Blockbuster’s services… – well, while I did feel sorry for the animated mouse, who didn’t enjoyed being dragged in the sawdust, I thought the ad was funny and cute (and sure hope nobody uses real mice in that manner).

The commercial in the style of Japanese action stuff (kind of like Power Rangers and Voltron and that lot) – well, I have no idea what that ad was promoting, but it was a great parody.

The GM ad with the factory machine that felt sorry for itself … ok, in light of how real people in the automotive industry are losing their jobs – I didn’t care for the GM commercial, even if it was cute.

The CBS promos for its series (Letterman; “How I Met Your Mother”; “The Class”; “Two and a Half Men”; even Craig Ferguson’s show) – funny! Laughed when I realized Craig Ferguson was parodying the old Benny Hill gag of running along with the pretty girls and patting a bald guy on the head.
I didn’t watch “Criminal Minds” after the game – wasn’t that interested. It’s a series with some charm and suspense, but it’s weird to see Mandy Patankin not sing and him back with Thomas Gibson (ex-Greg of “Dharma and Greg” and, like Patankin, an ex-castmate of “Chicago Hope”) along side Shemar Moore (ex-Young and the Restless actor and actor of many cancelled tv shows), and other actors who probably belonged on something like NCIS or CSI but wound up on this show. Hmm. Oh, well. It’s good for viewers out there.

Oh – and other stuff –>
Fascinating story on how the Jewish community of Cuba managed to continue.

A story – a recipe – on General Tso’s chicken and Hunanese cuisine.

Thank goodness for weekend.

Updated my little website.  Fixed a graphic, minor tweaks here and there, particularly on the links page.  Check it out!

TV:

“Ugly Betty” – episode deserved a thumbs up.  As much as I didn’t care for the conspiracy storyline, it worked out very well (the cast is major talented, I must say – this would have floundered at the hands of lesser talents).  Daniel found out that his long-thought-dead brother Alex was now… Alexis – via a sex change (like, gee, Alexis, seriously no one in the family knew of your deep-seated gender confusion?) – and the Meade sibling rivalry remains, causing their father’s magazine empire to face a major – uh – transformation.  Betty had her own sibling rivalry issues with her sister Hilda (who seemed to be irritating the models at Fashion Week until it turned out they like her – which frustrated Betty to no end).  Hilda and Daniel kissed (!), but more because they were drunk and foolish over their sibling issues.  Hooray that Betty and the accountant are getting closer again!  Justin, Betty’s nephew, got to enjoy Fashion Week by being Wilhelmina’s temporary assistant (Wilhemina having been blinded by faulty botoxin injection’s swelling up around her eyes).   Too funny.  Heck, even Betty’s dad’s immigration problem is turning to be not as tragic as it had been awhile back – not when the federal investigator is now trying to make him love her – uh, talk about conflict of interest, lady!

“Grey’s Anatomy” – Meredith’s mom, Ellis, got to be lucid – temporarily, though.  Wow, Ellis Grey as lucid was curiously interesting.  Ellis as senile Alheimer’s patient who still gnawed at her daughter was one thing; Ellis as lucid – clearly in conflict.  She missed the last five years of her life, and picked up where she thought she left off with Meredith – arguing with Meredith to go to med school (back when Meredith, evidentally a perfectly focused and bright girl, probably was still recovery from partying with the frats of the Ivy League – yeah, right).  Only, Meredith did go to med school – yet Ellis is still disappointed, because Meredith just wants to be happy with her man – not aggressively out to be the cardiac surgeon her mother was.  Ellis is imperfect – even those interns (re: Cristina) who idolize her knew she messed up on the life-career balance thing – Ellis mostly knew she screwed up her life in giving up the love of her life, the Chief.  The scene with Ellis and the Chief – aww – amazing stuff.  Her making him promise to look after Meredith (before she went back into senility); Meredith’s heart-breaking moment of basically telling her mom that she both loved and hated her – and saying that only hope was what helped her believe that one day a cure would let them finally get to know each other – what stuff! 

It reminds anyone why this show is called “Grey’s Anatomy.”  It’s always more compelling when Ellis appears and Meredith comes across as such a person.  Yeah, Meredith has her friends and McDreamy, but she’s often very much alone – being her mother’s daughter – and it was nice that the Chief is someone who can understand.  If he’s a father figure for anyone, he’s probably the closest thing for Meredith, who can barely face her own biological dad.

Cristina Yang’s jerking around Burke’s marriage proposal was a bit much – but gee, will she learn from Ellis’ (personal) mistakes?  And, George and Callie getting married – crazy – and inevitably, Izzy adopted the role of irritating sister-in-law, spewing all kinds of bile at Callie (good for George to defend Callie).  Liked seeing how Dr. Bailey was loving her clinic – she’s a surgeon, yes, but she’s a great doctor and a good person.

Last but not least by any means: the report on global warming is out, and what does it mean?  

In a grim and powerful assessment of the future of the planet, the leading international network of climate scientists has concluded for the first time that global warming is “unequivocal” and that human activity is the main driver, “very likely” causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950. 

They said the world was in for centuries of climbing temperatures, rising seas and shifting weather patterns — unavoidable results of the buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.

But their report, released here on Friday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said warming and its harmful consequences could be substantially blunted by prompt action.

“could be substantially blunted by prompt action” means what?  We all get hybrid cars?  use more wind and solar power?  Recyle, re-use, etc.?  What Would Al Gore Do? 

An entertaining look at a Yale undergrad who’s figuring out how to maximize the dining hall’s capabilities: for instance, young Zach Marks manages to cook up chicken satay with the common college staples and a microwave – and, in between extracurricular activities and his inclination to be an urban planner, he pulled off a roast pig party in his freshman year.  Oh, my…

Colleague and I went to Thomas Beisl, an Austrian cuisine bistro across the street from BAM.  Cool place – food was terrific for pretty good prices (in the $20-$40) range.  NY Times review said it was delicious.  I had the weiner schnitzel (breaded and fried pork cutlets, an Austrian national food – link presented for purposes of edifying those who – like I was – wasn’t sure what exactly was schnitzel) and for dessert – cheese strudel in vanilla sauce.  Mmm.  Yummy!  Plus, as BAM didn’t have a performance, not crowded at all.  Ambiance was good; staff was nice; bathroom – clean (I take that into consideration, really).

Okay, well, I’m a sucker for fried food anyway, and now I can see why schnitzel’s a loved food…

Tuesday’s “House” – an odd episode.  On the one hand, I wanted to feel it was powerful, but I thought the rape victim patient was irritating (House being the last person to help a rape victim – and, honestly, isn’t he or his hospital obligated by law to treat this far more seriously than they did – was a rape counselor even available?  Victim was so traumatized that she had lost all rationale – telling House she wanted to talk, but didn’t know what to talk about – except about the rape – and doesn’t know why she still wanted him as her doctor, when she clearly didn’t even want him touching her after he confirmed she had an STD and realized that she was a rape victim; her only reason for wanting to keep him as her doctor?  Because she could tell he had been hurt too.  Aww.  Total manipulator – she was brutalized and wanted to regain control – or so House’s team determined – by asserting she wanted House as her doctor).  For more than one moment, I thought she was a figment of House’s imagination to get him to work out his internal demons (since drug rehab was a complete failure for him).

House – actor Hugh Laurie brilliant as ever – was as a touch irritating in his constant refusal to change.  I wasn’t entirely surprised by the revelation of his abusive childhood and who his abuser was; but I’m getting tired of how he won’t … change.  Perhaps that’s how it is – he is a character who simply won’t change, because he has been too angry over how his past was and how he knows the power of lies – hell, I think he lies to himself or is just too damn honest – after awhile, things blur and you just can’t quite tell with House – oh, and he had his stroke in his leg and he lost the love of his life and he was shot last season, and life just plain sucks.  

 Dr. Cameron is another irritation, as she got saddled with yet another cancer-dying patient. Yes, we know she can’t handle people who die (why is she a doctor – uh, oh, well) and she is constantly reminded of how her husband died of cancer too.  Dr. Foreman needs some lines (after all, like House, he’s had his own traumatic thing – and I think he was in denial about it).  Dr. Chase had the closest thing to suggesting the right thing: informing House that there may not be the right answer to treating this victim.  Well, leave it to a guy who might still have a moral compass and was going to be a priest to try to say something nice. 

Personally, I enjoy the show most when they move towards the ensemble feeling and less of the obvious burden on Hugh Laurie – House and Wilson are fun to watch (come on – it’s Robert Sean Leonard as Wilson – he has acting chops!); and the younger doctors jousting with each other and House – can we get more of that again, pretty please? 

Hell, I’ll even take the evil Vogel back.  Vogel was evil for the sake of being evil – he enjoyed being the boss from hell.  Vogel the character was a total contrast from the role Chi McBride played on “Boston Public” – the high school principal with the greatest of intentions (well, I stuck with Boston Public only during the first season and a half, so perhaps I’m wrong).  I didn’t quite care for the detective character that David Morse played – Morse was a great actor, but his character strained belief as this season’s villain – I mean, if there’s a poster boy for police corruption, that was Det. Tritter.  His evilness wasn’t as fun or as excusable as Vogel’s evilness.   

And a final mention: the passing of Olympic medalist C.K. Yang.

Sooo, Mondays are that much more competitive in the wonderful world of tv, with Heroes up against 24.  Now, I’d like to be an actual 24 fan, only the violence gets a bit much for me.  Like who else will die; it gets a little crazy and seriously depressing.  Plus, the plot holes get a little annoying (am I really supposed to be believe these seemingly non-suicidal terrorists would let a-bombs go off?  At least be a few hundred miles away before letting the nuke blow up.  They have to be suicidal, yet one of these idiots helping the terrorists seems to think giving them a-bombs would help him and his girlfriend have lots of moola – is that all??).
Also, things are getting interesting on Heroes – actor Masi Oka is the real pleasure to watch.  Playing the time-space bender Hiro, he’s entertaining.  I like it most when they move past the near-stereotyping (“Asian nerd” stereotype can be a bit irritating to watch) – Hiro as the tragic hero – who likes his powers but is slowing maturing – has been fascinating.  Soon to be on Heroes: George Takei (Sulu of Star Trek) as Hiro’s dad; turns out that Takei can speak Japanese.

I find the actor Masi Oka to be intruiging too – he still has his day job for George Lucas’ special effects company and he managed to have dual-majored in math, comp sci, and minored in drama at Brown U (talk about being way smart).

Hiro has a cool interaction with Nathan, the superpowered congressman wanna-be played by Adrian Pasdar (once known for his FOX tv-fan-cult show Profit, where he played a most troubled character…) – ex., Hiro happily calling Nathan “Flying Man” (having been the one person so far who has seen Nathan fly) and Nathan hoping he’ll stop doing that; and Nathan’s rather amusing attempt to help Hiro improve his English (“Billian”/”No, ‘Villain’” – Nathan being rather patient).  The two might turn into the most amusing sci-fi/fantasy pals pairings – kind of like Star Trek The Next Generation’s Data and Geordi (only Nathan is that much more of a straight man to Hiro’s funny guy).  Heck, they might even rival Star Trek’s Worf’s funnier moments (the “I am not a Merry Man” line has got to be among Worf’s best).  That I’m noticing the dramatic sci-fi’s funny moments has to mean something positive!
Plus, Sendhil Ramamurthy as Mohinder, the Indian genetics professor who’s the Professor X of the Heroes (ok, sorry – an X-Men reference on my part; Mohinder has no known powers at this time) – he’s quite a watch – good looking and I love his accent (okay, I like accents on good-looking and intelligent-seeming men).  Another cool Asian-American (he does the accent so well – yet he turns out to be Chicago-born and TX raised).  With Oka and Ramamurthy, I’m looking forward to seeing more diversity on tv!

Super Bowl hype time – well, I certainly find it great that you have two African-American head coaches – great stories – plus the whole Peyton Manning Saga – can he prove himself already?  (well, I’m pulling for the Colts – Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy have to do it already – momentum time!).

The passing of Rev. Robert Drinan – progressive priest, ex-congressman and ex-dean of Boston College Law School.  Fascinating reflection about Drinan on Newsweek’s website.

Been a bit AWOL from blogging, as I had attended various NYS Bar Association events (hey, inexpensive CLE!) this past week and it wore me out, frankly.

Tv shows:

“Ugly Betty” – remains an intruiging tv show. Still don’t quite know what to make of the consipiracy storyline (I suppose having Rebecca Romaijn makes it that much more interesting to someone out there). But, I like how Betty and her boss Daniel are turning into good friends; not enough tv shows show how friendship is important.

“Grey’s Anatomy” – uh, the developments of the romantic relationships on this show is a bit batty. But, the one character I feel most for (besides Dr. Bailey, who is that much more mature than her bosses, the attendings who are nuts) is the Chief – who kind of made his own problems possible (by driving his wife nuts with his less-than-faithfulness and his inability to retire). Plus, Meredith Grey – the woman needs help getting over her emotional baggage, I still say.

Last but not least of noteworthiness:

Simon and Schuster announced the winners of the Strange New Worlds 10 contest, where new writers submitted short stories for the SNW 10. The webpage notes:

After receiving several thousands of entries and much deliberation, I’m pleased to announce the winners of the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 10 contest:

STAR TREK
“The Smell of Dead Rose” — Gerri Leen —Grand Prize
“The Doomsday Gambit” — Rick Dickson
“Empty”–David DeLee

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
“Wired”–Aimee Ford Foster
“A Dish Served Cold”–Paul C Tseng
“The Very Model”–Muri McCage

STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
“So a Horse Walks into A Bar”–Brian Seidman
“Signal to Noise”–Jim Johnson

STAR TREK: VOYAGER
“The Fate of Captain Ransom”–Rob Vagle
“A Taste of Spam”–Louis E. Doggett
“Adjustments”–Laura Ware
“The Day the Borg Came”–M.C. DeMarco

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE
“The Dream”–Robyn Sullivent Gries
“Universal Chord” Carolyn Winifred —Third Prize
“You are not in Space”–Edgar Governo

SPECULATIONS
“Time Line”–Jerry M. Wolfe
“Echoes” Randy Tatano —Second Prize
“Brigadoon”–Rigel Ailur
“Reborn”–Jeremy Yoder

Ten years ago Pocket Books offered Star Trek fans a unique opportunity. Long before the Internet, Star Trek fans had written their own stories, which they then shared among friends and family. Now, the fans were offered a chance to become a part of the Star Trek mythos. A contest sponsored by Pocket Books would publish and pay for the best stories submitted by non-professional writers. And over the course of a decade, hundreds of pounds of submissions poured in. Many of the writers who submitted to Strange New Worlds went on to become professional writers.

As of 2007, we will be discontinuing the publication of Strange New Worlds.

Pocket Books is proud to have sponsored the only contest of this kind ever offered to the readers of their books. And over the years with the co-operation of Paramount Pictures, and now CBS Consumer Products, Pocket Books has published ten volumes of short stories “by the fans for the fans.” We would like to thank everyone who ever submitted a story to Strange New Worlds, and everyone who worked behind-the-scenes to make it all happen.

The alternate list was posted on the website of the editor, Dean Wesley Smith; you may recognize a certain SSW on the list; Dean notes:

Okay, here I can talk a little about the alternates and the process. But first off, I want to say again, Congratulations!! to the folks in the book, and to all of you who made the alternate list (good enough to be in the book), and to everyone who sent me a story. You are all winners in my book.

This alternate list is the stories I found that were good enough to be in the book in all ways. All these authors should be very proud of making this list. Job well done.

Feel free to repost this list to other sites, but please note where this is from and take the entire post please. And please pardon my spelling.

19 stories in the book this year.
29 alternates. Some reasons for this will be explained later in this topic.

Alternates for SNW #10

Original Trek
A LOGICAL CONCLUSION by Mary Sweeney
DOUBLE DUTY by Aimee Ford Foster
RESURRECTION by Jim Lawson
RECONCILIATION by Jeremy Yoder
PROPERLY REVERED by Gerri Leen
FINAL CHAPTER by Randy Tatano
CHEATING DESTINY by Joseph D. Di Lella
IN THE NIGHT SKY by Mui McCage

Next Generation
A WRINKLE IN TIME by Rigel Ailur
RACING THE WAVE by Rigel Ailur
DOWN FOR THE COUNT by Paul C. Tseng
LIKE THEY USED TO by Paul C. Tseng
INNOCENCE ASPACE by Lorraine J. Anderson
SUICIDE NOTE by Geoff Towbridge

Deep Space Nine
SECOND GREAT TRIBBLE… by Laura Ware
TIL TIME DO US PART by Jeremy Yoder
LIVING WITH THE CONSEQUENCES by Gerri Leen
FEAR ITSELF by R. S. Belcher

Voyager
VOYAGER BECOMES HER by Stephanie Peaden
THE BOTTLE by Teresa Haugh
WORK IN PROGRESS by Sally S. Woo
TRIPLE EPILOGUE by L.E. Goggett
RETURNED by A. Rhea King
THE ZEN OF BOOTHBY by Muri McCage
PARTED FROM ME by Laura Ware
THE BOOK OF VOYAGER by M.C. DeMarco

Enterprise
DESTINY by Jim Lawson
MEMORABLE by Robyn Sullivent Gries
WHEN ETHICS FAIL by A. Rhea King

Speculations
(none)

The following stories were on my original table of contents but got bumped in the process back to the alternate list. I just thought the authors would want to know this.
INNOCENCE ASPACE by Lorraine J. Anderson
SUICIDE NOTE by Geoff Towbridge
FEAR ITSELF by R. S. Belcher
WHEN ETHICS FAIL by A. Rhea King.

Congratulations again, everyone. And thanks from a very grateful editor that so many wonderful stories were sent in.

Cheers
Dean

The stunning realization that I was incredibly close to seeing my short story published – well, it’s been amazing to think about. It reminded me to keep at it with my writing; there’s payoff one day!

Postscript: oops; I’m so ill-mannered; meant to also say: congratulations to all participants!

Finally finished reading Qiu Xialong’s “When Red is Black.” (in a past post, I linked to a Newsweek interview on the author). Now, I never read the Chief Inspector Chen of Shanghai series before, so this was interesting.

As a detective mystery – something of a disappointment – I really couldn’t find very much empathy for the murdered victim. She seemed a bit of a cypher – a professor who never gave up on the love she had for male prof during the Cultural Revolution – yet there’s doubt as to what was this love (they couldn’t have had an affair when the re-education camp would never have given them any privacy) and what personal gains may have been involved (did she use him?). The whole who-did-it was kind of weak – was it an inside job, done by the neighbors – but how likely, when none of the suspects had motives that worked?

But, as a novel – intruiging. Very strongly written, interesting style – very literary, even – and the vividness of the setting and the tension of living in a China that was/is in flux – more than made up for the weak mystery.
There were some odd errors – missing attributions (ex., placement of a paragraph would make a dialog look like someone else’s dialog, but it was really a continuation of, say, Inspector Chen’s observations – a simple “said Chen” would have clarified confusion) or slight grammatical errors or typos (Message to copy editor – hello, are you doing your job?). I’ve noticed too many books like that these days (not just in books by an author whose first language may not be English; read one or two of Anne Perry’s books and you’d wonder if the rush to print was a little too rushed). What’s with the publishing business? Take your time and edit properly!
Substantively speaking, Qiu’s book reminded me a lot of reading other literary detectives (guys who let their sidekicks do the legwork while they, say, quote poetry, drink booze (although Chen didn’t do that too much), flirt with women (intentionally or not), and think too much) – Qiu’s Chen was sort of like Colin Dexter’s Chief Inspector Morse or P.D. James’ Commander Dalgiesh (who, like Chen, is also a published poet) – which I have to say is my way of complimenting Qiu – he has an original spin on this kind of detective. Chen’s sort of bland, yes, but then again you kind of have to be a slightly repressed, career-driven, poetic minded person to deal with the “Communist” society in flux (plenty of ironies are portrayed, when you have characters who spout the party policies, but have their side businesses to get – say, food or something – on the table, since the government’s not doing that anymore).

The portrayal of Shanghai in the 1990’s seemed cool – certainly all the references to food would make foodies grin. (but, even if the setting is 1990’s, it felt an awful lot like the the early 2000’s – with the references to cell phones – but I’m hardly an expert on late 20th Century/early 21st century urban China).

Chen and his sidekick Yu have to deal with bureaucratic crap, corruption, and other stuff (balancing the needs of the family versus the needs of one’s self) – no differently than other detectives. I’ll see about reading their adventures again another time – maybe my mysteries reading is too oriented in America and Britain?
As the “Justice League” cartoon dvds were some of my Christmas presents and I’ve no life to speak of (or I’m procrastinating as usual – take your pick) – I’ve been watching a whole bunch of episodes this weekend so far. Thumbs up for this series – but then my geek side gets all happy seeing the superheroes do their thing.

The comic strip Funky Winkerbean has now stepped into a phase that probably only Garry Trudeau’s “Doonesbury” is already familiar – removing a familiar character’s trademark headgear. Like Doonesbury’s B.D., Funky’s longtime high school band director character Harry Dingle has always worn his marching band cap – it got to a point that you figure the character has no eyes (the visor thing always covered it). Now, I’m hardly a longtime reader of the comic strip, but it was pretty obvious that this guy, being that his marching band is his life, probably never took his cap off. Big revelation this week: Harry’s slowly losing his hearing, so he agreed to give up being band director to be the school’s music supervisor – and he’s NOT wearing his cap. In fact, he was hard to recognize (without his scowl, seriously, he looks like some brand spanking new character). This is as shocking as B.D. having his helmet removed after 30 years with it on (ok, yeah, B.D. also lost half of a leg, but really – his helmet made him the much-too-angry Doonesbury character that he was for so long). Weird!