Author: ssw15

The passing of Don Knotts. I’m of the generation that knew him best as Mr. Furley of “Three’s Company” (particularly since I probably watched far too much of that show when I was young). Man, is it sad that both John Ritter (the ex-Jack Tripper) and Don Knotts are gone.

The passing of Darren McGavin, who – among other things – was known for his cult fave role of Kolchak, of the old 1970’s show, “Kolchak: The Night Stalker.” ABC tried a re-make this fall of the show, with a tiny McGavin appearance, but the re-make series was cancelled (I never got a chance to try it).

More notably (and why I take notice of McGavin), Kolchak inspired Fox Mulder of “The X-Files” – the FBI agent who investigates the paranormal/supernatural/unidentified space phenomenon, and takes a more official course that Kolchak, a reporter who investigated the same stuff, probably lacked – but they probably had the same frustration (i.e., being thwarted from investigating very much). (okay, so I did watch too much X-Files during its original run). Anyway, I’d salute McGavin.
This week’s Entertainment Weekly reviewed the Oscars. These special issues — well, I guess it’s what EW is known for having these days. But, what I really liked – the article on Mark Harmon! His NCIS is getting big ratings, so who’s to ignore the All-American guy? Notably, NICS creator/producer, Don Bellisario (the man behind such shows as “Magnum, PI,” “Quantum Leap,” and “JAG”) apparently liked Harmon in West Wing as the ill-fated Secret Service agent – and, I agree – that role was a good role for Harmon. I have my quibbles about his NCIS charater Agent Gibbs (he’s much too tough, making it too obvious that he has a soft heart – I mean, really, Mark Harmon!), but Harmon’s a good actor, who has longevity. Goodness, EW even got Harmon to reminisce about his role on “Chicago Hope” (I lost hope on that show when Mandy Pantinkin and Peter MacNicol left; it was a typical David E. Kelley show that too often didn’t put enough respect for the characters, I long felt) and his work in… “Battle of the Network Stars”! (I was far too young to really appreciate the old “Battle of the Network Stars,” but I think it’s funny how EW notes that NBC did strangely well in it – with Mark Harmon on the NBC team – in what was really an early “reality show”; and I’ve always been convinced that – until recent years – NBC did a good job having network identity and unity, via their old promos in the 1980’s and 1990’s).

Been behind on “House” – but I’m pretty sure that Dr. House is going to self-destruct and it ain’t going to be pretty. Dr. Wilson, if you’re really his best friend, please, do something. Or maybe, Dr. Wilson’s marital problems will be the next storyline to tackle. I mean, really, how much longer will the current Mrs. Wilson be off-screen?

And, a bit behind on “Grey’s Anatomy” – looks like I wasn’t far off the the mark on Meredith Grey’s issues about her dad. Hmm…

And, the Olympics will soon come to an end (the closing ceremonies are on tv tonight). Ah, but it’s been fun, Turin!  (despite the controversies and the like).

Snow’s all but gone – leaving this yucky muck on the sidewalks of NY.

How about those Chinese figure skating pairs? One pair, the bronze winners of 2002, earning a bronze again in 2006 – but a well-earned one, considering how Zhao had that horrible Achilles tendon injury and then his partner, Shen, had those slips in their programs during the Olympics 2006. The silver medalists – Zhang and Zhang (not related) – well, when the female Zhang had her fall, one wondered if they’d medal, but they had their courage and got out there. Quite something.

American skier Toby Dawson wins a bronze in moguls (the hilly ski course, with the acrobatic elements). Dawson is an Korean-American adoptee, who grew up in the ski country of Vail, Colorado. NBC has an interesting profile on him.

NY Times’ Lee Jenkins tells Dawson’s story poignantly (poignant: a classic Olympic style, no doubt):

Toby Dawson arrived in the United States with no name and no birthday.

He was adoptee K81-2879, found on the streets of Seoul, South Korea. Workers at the South Korean orphanage where he lived called him Kim Soo Chul. They listed his date of birth as Nov. 30, 1978, because it seemed like a reasonable guess.

On Wednesday night, adoptee K81-2879 became an Olympic medalist. When he won the bronze in the men’s moguls competition, his adoptive mother, Deborah Dawson, flashed back to the first time she saw him, on a spring day at a Denver airport 24 years ago.

“It felt,” she said, “a lot like it feels right now.” [….]

Dawson came to the United States when he was about 3 years old, adopted by a husband and wife who were ski instructors in Vail, Colo. One of the first toys Dawson received in the United States was a trampoline. As he jumped up and down in the backyard, Deborah Dawson watched from her kitchen window, recognizing his passion for physical activity and a determination to stay on his feet.

Sitting in the stands Wednesday in Sauze d’Oulx, Deborah Dawson wore a gold jacket and a cowbell around her neck. She saw her son choose a path down the mountain that no one else wanted. It was on the right side of the hill, covered with enough excess snow and pine needles to halt even the most accomplished skier.

“We tried to get him to move more to the right, but he stuck to his guns,” said Jeff Wintersteen, the United States coach. “Toby’s an individualist. He liked that line and he was going to go for it.”

The line was difficult. It was undesirable. It was filled with unnecessary obstacles.

For skier K81-2879, it was perfect.

The men’s figure skating — well, wasn’t that much of a surprise,was it? Plushenko, gold. After that, was the fight for the two other medals. Lambiel of Switzerland, silver. Canada’s Jeffrey Buttle – a chemical engineering student in U of Toronto – a bronze – lucky him (earning something, despite tripping on an attempted quad). US men? Evan Lysacek – coming back from the poor short program, but not winning the bronze with 4th place, so close! – and Matt Savoie – well, I liked his short program, so I think he came close, too. He ended at 7th. He’s an aspiring lawyer, about to go to Cornell Law. And, the US Champion, Johnny Weir – hmm. He was 5th place, with a pretty long program, but no quad. You need a quad, man! You don’t get a medal unless you try risks.

And the new point system for skating? I just don’t understand it, even when the pairs tried it out (and they were the ones who caused the old scoring system to be ditched) – but, I guess it’s a work in progress. Maybe it’ll make more sense to me once I see the ice dancers and the women skaters.
Well, I’m not behind on “Grey’s Anatomy” for once. Man, that part 2 of the Super Bowl episode was really something. Explosive (pun intended). Too bad for Bomb Squad Guy, played by Kyle Chandler. I thought he had a moment with Meredith Grey, who, in reality, is still stuck on Dr. McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey). And, really, Meredith needs a dynamic kind of guy, to offset what she went through with McDreamy. But, next week’s “Grey” will be interesting – Mark, the ex-best friend of Dr. McDreamy (sorry, Dr. Shepherd) and the guy who had an affair with Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, Shepherd’s wife, will visit (for how long?) Seattle Grace Hospital – and, gee, sparks will fly, but whose sparks? (Meredith’s, or Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd’s?). Hmm…

Due to the Olympics, I’m behind on “House.” Will catch up some time this week.

A record-breaking thing in NYC: some more than 20 inches. 26.9 in Central Park. So is it a plain ol’ nor’easter, or a real blizzard? The National Weather Service can’t seem to figure that out yet. Quite something. The weatherforecasters are already saying we’ll be back to the 50’s by the end of the week. Got to be kidding me…

The Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics of Torino (or Turin), 2006 – quite something, I had to say. Lot of abstract stuff. I kept thinking, “Boy, am I glad I read the Divine Comedy, so I can read much more into the symbolism than I probably should.” The Italian poet, Dante, would have been so proud. And, really, I think it’s great that now, Turin will now be more than just the town known for the Shroud of Turin or for the Ferraris. (well, okay, so they just had to have a Ferrari in the Opening Ceremony).

Bob Costas was joined by Brian Williams and Mary Carillo (who joined the men later on). It felt weird, since one wondered where Katie Couric was (and wondering if those rumors in the newspapers were serious – was NBC really doing something to Katie Couric because CBS is interested in her?). Yahoo! posted this interesting analysis from AP, where AP writer David Bauder observes:

“The games begin at an interesting, some say dicey, time in our world,” NBC News anchor Brian Williams said at the ceremony’s outset.

Williams and Bob Costas were the network’s hosts for the ceremony and parade of nations. Katie Couric has helped handle those duties for the last few Olympics but, with her NBC contract nearing an end and CBS courting her, she was benched this time in favor of Williams.

Perhaps no entertainment event truly approaches an Olympics opening or closing ceremony for general loopiness, and this was no exception. There were girls raising flags mounted on the backpacks of men, an unfortunate fellow being forced to continually pound a fire-breathing platform with a mallet and those model cows being led around the ice.

Costas tried gamely, at first, to try to decipher it all: “The universal symbol of passion, the beating heart,” he said.

But eventually he seemed to simply give up and the narrators allowed long stretches of silence.

Well, that was rather notable – I kept thinking, “Gee, Brian, where are you?” when it felt like Bob and Mary were doing the talking. Kind of odd that. And, nice surprise as far as the torch bearer was concerned (I kept thinking, now where is that Alberto Tomba, and pleased that Italy had other Oympians to honor). Otherwise, beautiful ceremony (and that Pavarotti – you can’t keep a legend out, right?).
Michelle Kwan stepping out of the Torino Olympics. She will be honored for her achievements.

Plus, tonight, Part 2 of “Grey’s Anatomy” – the resolution to the cliffhanger episode of last week’s Super Bowl episode. Poor Meredith Grey. But, you figure she’ll be fine, since, her name is the title of the show.

Stay warm!

Yeah, it’s Friday! I took the half day off to check out the Alumni Law School’s program on Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the subject of the new biography by Joan Biskupic. It felt like a nice sequel, so to speak, to the Justice Blackmun program, the subject of the Linda Greenhouse book – I mean, both Biskupic and Greenhouse were there! – so it was very, very cool. I so want to read both books. But, I’m not planning to get the books for awhile yet. (supposedly, to stay consistent with my whole idea of not buying too much stuff this 2006).

The passing of Franklin Cover, the actor best known for playing the character Tom Willis, the Jeffersons’ neighbor (whose tv marriage was one of those few bi-racial marriages celebrated on tv, I must say); Tom, George Jefferson’s foil/best friend/son’s father-in-law. A tv thing to note, I guess, but then again, I used to watch way much of the Jeffersons.
I watched Harrison Ford on Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley last night. Interesting interviews – none of the annoying tabloidy feel, more like conversation. Ford’s really no spring chicken – he really looked his age and he seem very realistic, telling Charlie Rose that he’d like to do more character roles and being very gracious to Tavis Smiley, who was being such a fan (well, apparently, it was his first interview with Harrison Ford, so the enthusiasm was genuine). If Hollywood isn’t kind to aging women actors, it’s no less kind to aging male action heroes. I’d like to see Harrison Ford do more than the usual Indignant Man Forced By Circumstances To Be A Hero. I think he might have it to be a character actor, especially when it’s not that believeable for him to jump off cliffs like he used to do (an aging Indiana Jones? Doesn’t anyone realize that getting Sean Connery to play Prof. Jones, Indy’s dad, was a little odd, since he’s not that old enough to be Harrison Ford’s dad?). Good luck to Harrison Ford.

Ooh, the New Doctor Who is going to be on Sci-Fi channel (the 9th Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston). Funny thing is, the 1st season was already shown in Canada and Britain, and they’ve already gotten a 10th Doctor, played by David Tennant (who played a strange character in the latest Harry Potter movie). See, I’m not a Doctor fan at all (only saw the FOX movie with the 8th Doctor), but I like hearing about a sci-fi franchise that won’t die. (as opposed to the franchise to which I keep sticking by, somehow).

Will there be snow this weekend? I so want to go out tomorrow night to see the whole gang…

And, last but not least, time for the Olympics! My VCR will tape the end (?) of “Arrested Development.”

Man, this is a weird winter. 40’s/50’s this past weekend, and today, low 40’s,30’s and windchill in the teens or 20’s. It’s the wind, really.

And, in today’s news, Bill Nye the Science Guy Gets Hitched. Congratulations, Science Guy!

In Slate: the dangers of reading memoirs – is a disclaimer good enough? I recall reading Barack Obama’s memoir and saw the little disclaimer. Then, I thought, you know, I would hardly expect Obama, at the time a soon-to-be-elected politician, to be entirely honest. And, he’s a lawyer on top of that – as if he’d really name names of people who passed through what was likely a more ordinary life. If the point of his book is to express his views on race and politics in America, not to express his actual memories, then maybe a little embellishment or literary license is allowable.

And, then I think about Bob Kerrey’s memoir and how, when I read it, I felt there was some kind of holding back about what he did in Vietnam – whether due to his faulty memory or his (understandable) desire not to discuss because he was not ready (whether for personal or political reasons).

Memoirs are touchy things. I’m not sure who really reads them because they’re accurate, or because they’re about art (artifice?) reflecting on reality. Would you feel cheated if it turns out what you read didn’t really happen? Sure. But, why did you really read the book – because it’s “real’ or because of the way it’s written and what you felt in reading it?
Prof. Tim Wu explains in Slate why patent law seems to allow this nasty guy to go after the makers of Blackberry. I thought that this article was amusing and educational. Hey, who knew that patent law could be funny? (speaking as a non-patent law person – the one IP class I didn’t take in law school, primarily since I didn’t – still don’t – have the scientific technical background).

Tuesday night, the bunch of us went to Virgil’s BBQ after a City Bar event. Good eating. Cheesy mac and cheese – wow. Digestion’s still on-going. 😉

So, the game itself turned out rather boring. I really wasn’t rooting for either side, but then I started rooting for Pittsburgh (because Seattle just doesn’t have that aura of history’s-on-your-side and blue color honor and all that), but then thought a few calls were bad – or at least my brother pointed out that the calls were lousy (was it me, or were those refs really working too hard for Pittsburgh? I mean, those Pittsburgh Steelers got pushy toward the Seahawks guys).

The opening ceremony, honoring the MVP’s of the past 39 Super Bowls was interesting (I mean, wow, how many MVP’s came out for this? That was sure cool of them to do that). It was apparently a good moment for Lynn Swann, the past MVP who had the biggest cheers from the mostly Pittsburgh fans in the stadium (and notably, he’s trying to get the Republican nomination to become governor of Pennsylvania).

Plenty of analysis on the ads:

Reuters has this assessment that the ads played a little safe.

And, there’s the NY Times’ Stuart Elliott – witty and to the point.

The Washington Post, on MSNBC.com. And, even Time magazine. We’re all obsessed with the ads. And, there’s Seth Stevenson of Slate’s “Ad Report” – giving a cranky assessment.

Seriously, I got so bored with the game, I pretty much watched for the commercials during the three quarters. Fourth quarter, I was just waiting for “Grey’s Anatomy.” My assessment goes like this, below:

I was repulsed by the Burger King commercial. Never mind Burger King, who is weird enough – but the Whopperettes jumping atop of each other to form a Whopper – that’s just stupid. I know it was a parody of the old-fashioned Hollywood extravanganza, but it got silly so badly. In fact, it made me not want to eat a Whopper. I assume that’s not what Burger King wants me to do.

Sierra Mist commercial – with comedians Kathy Griffin and Jim Gaffigan as airport security people who remove a guy of his Sierra Mist – well, I got the point, but I didn’t think it was funny.

Fed Ex – the Neanderthal employee who tried to send a package by pterodactyl. Only, he can’t. Subtitles. His boss grunts that he should’ve sent it by Fed Ex. Employee grunts back that it doesn’t even exist yet. Boss grunts: “Not my problem” and fires employee. Employee leaves the cave office, kicks a lizard, and then he himself gets squashed by a giant elephant. Strangely funny. And, the boss – well, haven’t we all had nutty bosses?

The Aleve commercial with Leonard Nimoy – so, he’s at a Star Trek convention, but can’t do the Vulcan Live Long and Prosper hand sign because of his arthritis. Fortunately, the Aleve kicks in, so he can make his convention audience (and himself) feel relieved. Well, ok, so I’m a Trekkie and therefore I’m already biased to like the commercial. But, it was nice and funny! (kind of like how the Priceline.com commercial where Nimoy dropped in on Shatner was funny). And, it makes a point about the product. (and, it feels weird, but wow, that’s brave of Nimoy to go ahead and do an ad about his having arthritis).

I liked the Careerbuilder.com ads – “Yeah, I work for monkeys.” “I understand; I work for jackasses…” There’s something about animals that give me a laugh. And, reminds us about the problem of gainful but irritating employment and thinking about what ought we to do about it.
The Dove ad – which apparently is about encouraging girls to have positive body images – well, I think it was well-intentioned, so I’m not down on it as the professional critics have been. But, I think the problem is that no one felt comfortable seeing it in the middle of the Super Bowl.

The Fidelity (?) insurance ad with Sir Paul McCartney – see, I like the ad – but the problem is that it’s not original. It’s been on for quite awhile. And, it’s not like he’s doing half-time (he did it last year).
I liked the Mastercard MacGyver ad. Even better: it actually had Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver doing his whole save-the-world-with-tube-socks-and-paper-clips. Hell, he could use the Mastercard to stop a bomb for all I care.

The beer commercials were adequately amusing. GoDaddy’s ad was as stupid as last year’s – with the near naked woman and the foolish men (I won’t even link to it – and I still don’t know what is GoDaddy). There were the funny mortgage company ads, but like the critics said – the problem is, I still don’t know who’s that company that sponsored those ads. Pepsi ads with P.Diddy, Jackie Chan, and Jay Mohr – umm, sort of okay. I guess. Not like I’ll drink Pepsi. And, that Ford ad with Kermit – well, at least Kermit’s still cute.

Rolling Stones doing half-time – well, familiar music’s okay, I guess. But, I was surprised by the story that ABC censored some stuff. I mean, come on – these guys are in their 60’s – they’ve been risque for quite awhile. If the red states become upset, the only response would be: where have you been the last 40 years?
“Grey’s Anatomy” was the post-Super Bowl show. It got over-dramatic with crazy plot stuff (the show’s so much better with character development – then again, it’s not like anyone was acting out of character, so the character moments were still great) – as it would be when one is after the Super Bowl. (ABC did it to Alias, when it had its post-Super Bowl episode). Newsday does a nice profile, for those who don’t know “Grey.”
Whisper it now: Code Black. (yeah, right, like hospitals really have such a thing; do major cities?). It was weird to see Kyle Chandler (the ex-nice guy of “Early Edition”) be the bomb squad guy in “Grey’s Anatomy.” I forgot he’s good-looking, in his own boy scout kind of way. In one of my posts, I theorized that Meredith Grey ought to have a CIA agent boy-toy; bomb squad guy isn’t off the mark… (assuming that even happens; Grey still not over Dr. McDreamy – but, he’s played by Patrick Dempsey, so who can blame her?)… 😉

The Super Bowl episode left us in a cliff-hanger – just like that – “What?! No, wait, you can’t do that!” – so, stay tuned for next time…

Oh, and last but not least: Jo Foxworth, the lady behind the D’Agostino jingle “Please, Mr. D’Agostino, move closer to me,” passed away. Her obit describes her career as fascinating, a true woman pioneer of a male-dominated ad industry.

Sorry to have missed you while you were in town, YC.  Sounds like you guys had a great time back in the city!

Friday: my co-workers and I went to Rain, in time for Restaurant Week. We ended up not eating off of the Restaurant Week menu, but off the regular menu, which had some nice items. A side of pineapple fried rice was quite tropical and refreshing. One colleague had Thai bouillabaisse, which looked good. The ambiance was nice, although if you really want to press me, I’ll say that the music was a bit loud.

The weather has been incredibly mild. 40’s/50’s. Weird winter.

The passing of Betty Friedan, the author of “Feminine Mystique” and feminist. Slate’s Emily Bazelon, a relative of Friedan, posts a tribute.

The passing of Al “Grandpa Munster” Lewis. Yahoo has a slightly different version of the AP obit, wherein Grandpa Munster’s age is a bit in question.

MSNBC has this article on the curious so-called “nerd culture” of Japan. I read a similar article in the NY Times Magazine some year or two ago, and I still came out feeling weird and icky. I’ve no problem with nerds or their fascination with technology and anime. But, the erotic nature gets – like I said – icky. I mean, living with a life-size anime female doll?:

The nation has long nurtured a fascination with artifice — think bonsai, rock gardens or even gadgets like talking vending machines. Otaku [the “nerd” culture] have married that with the deep affection for innocence, which sometimes leads to young girls being viewed as sex symbols. [….]

The phenomenon is seen by many as a troubling deviation, reflecting a loss of confidence among youth and a Japanese aversion to personal conflict — typified by the estimated 1 million social recluses known as “hikikomori.” Some critics link the fascination with female characters to crimes targeting young girls.

“Because of fear of being rejected or disliked, people turn to anime characters or idols that pose no personal conflict,” said psychologist Rika Kayama. “But there is a danger. … Otaku who live in the fantasy world of anime often give little thought to how they may look to others.” [….]

The article then goes on to refer to its subject, a man who lives with his life-size dolls, combs their hair, and adore that they’re his dream girls. No intentions of marrying or even dating (real) girls. Umm, ok. Sure.

On a more pleasant note, there’s this Ford press release. Yeah, sure, the company’s losing jobs, but Kermit the Frog will be in Ford’s commercials for the Super Bowl game.

And, last but not least, this nice article on the Brooklyn bagel place, “F-Line Bagels,” that had been in a trademark dispute with the MTA (because the MTA didn’t like it that the owner used the “F” symbol of the F subway). The bagel place man went with a reversed F, and therefore possibly avoiding another trademark dispute. Smart move. And, boo to the MTA – how could anyone be confused about this one guy’s use of the “F” – obviously not MTA-approved and wouldn’t be confused for MTA (besides his being underneath the F line).

Oh, and take a moment to note the passing of Coretta Scott King. A bit on her legacy, on MSNBC and in the NY Times.

The confirmation and swearing in of J. Alito. What this means for the country for the next 30 years – well, we do live in interesting times, even as we seem to transition from the Civil Rights era to an era of a curious future.

Okay, so I did some channel-changing tonight (remote in my hands, not the men of the house). I pretty much stuck with the NBC coverage of the speech, since I thought the ABC coverage was bothersome – Liz Vargas passing it on to Charles Gibson, who passes it on to Diane Sawyer, who passes it back to Liz, who then talks to Terry Moran for Nightline tonight. Umm, can we please have one voice, the clear leader for the coverage? On NBC, Brian Williams was the clear one voice, and on CBS, Bob Schieffer is the clear one voice. It doesn’t have to be an authoritarian voice (Bob’s a folksy sort, who clearly enjoyed the night, and said that it’s his highlight, anyway; Brian was the one who says it’s a grand ritual). Just one voice. The ABC coverage felt an awful lot like its current Nightline stuff – a cacophony of too many chefs in the kitchen.

But, I liked how everyone on ABC did get to pull their punches in pointing out the flaws of the President’s speech. Martha Raddatz, as the White House correspondent (and former Pentagon correspondent) did a great, sharp analysis. Fareed Zakaria as a talking head was pretty on the point, too, over the lack of originality in the President’s foreign policy segment. Charles Gibson steered things along. Kept wishing a little more from Liz Vargas, but oh well. ABC felt like a work in progress, missing the usual polish of the past (at least, the polish as it was under the Peter Jennings era).

The newspapers will present an interesting read tomorrow, no doubt.