Category: Brooklyn

Oh, jeez, I think I’m going to have to quit eating or something. Three days worth of alma maters events, and I’m just stuffed. These things are so good about good food – especially since my undergraduate alma mater was going above and beyond its usual cheese-and-wine (well, they always did have good cheese, so I won’t complain about that)…

Thursday night was a nice dinner at my undergraduate alma mater, honoring achieving alumnae (theme: honoring them for their achievements in academia, as professors/scholars in areas of history, sociology, and other humanities areas); so nice that we did this dinner instead of the usual cheese-and-wine offering. The food: grilled vegetables-with-cheese as appetizer; slightly overdone, yet flavorful chicken atop of a mango-like salsa, with pasta and some vegetable sides; and dessert – ooh-la-la, mousse between meringue/biscuit slices. Mmm. Worth the nominal donation to enjoy.

And, of course, Friday night was the law school alma mater alumni dinner – you know, that seminal event that brings in all the Asian foods that you can eat, for free (always good). And, dessert – ooh, the association has outdone themselves this year – spongy cakes with creamy goodness; cheesecake-y goodness; cookies; mmm…

And, Saturday – I went back up to undergrad alma mater for the Dean’s day stuff, wherein the very women we honored made lectures in their areas, along with other alma mater profs. I had a great time – the overview lecture on African-Americans of NYC of 1626-1865 was so good; the lecture on the colonial origins of the Old South made me re-think issues of race and slavery in this country; and the lecture on 18th and 19th Centuries Siberia’s attempts of using (exploiting) the domesticity cult to make undesirable convicts settle down in Siberia (yeah, like a good Christian marriage will really make a vagrant/theif/political dissenter love Siberia; no wonder the Russian government never convinced people to stop seeing Siberia as a convict colony) – why, the lectures all reminded me why I loved being a history major (especially the ones about American history) and made me so proud that alma mater has produced some really amazing alumnae (yes, co-education was really great for alma mater, even if it meant that the gender demographics are really skewed on campus, since the all-women’s school is across the street – but I think it’s worked out fine, really). Oh, and the dean – I love him, but it’s pretty obvious that I’ve attended enough events that I almost know what he’s going to say before he says it. And, in the middle of all of this, I signed up for the luncheon at the last minute – grilled salmon, some kind of vegetable roll, and salad side. Dessert: chocolate covered nugget of chocolate and vanilla mousse-y goodness… mmm. (I’m like Homer Simpson, drooling…)

What this means: I ought to work out to burn the calories. Perhaps it will only happen in my dreams. Do we even burn any calorie when we dream? And, when will the warm weather/sunshine come? Pretty please?

Watch out – one hour forward; lose one hour’s sleep. Aargh….

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

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

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

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

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

Beware the April Fool’s Day thing.

Right now we’re at P–‘s friend Steve’s place in San Diego. We went to Newport Beach, Pasedena, LA and then down to Mexico – Ensenada and Puerto Nuevo. Awesome seafood. 90 degrees! More details when I get back on Wednesday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I love this article in this week’s NYT Magazine about a high school coach. Brought back a lot of fond memories of my teachers in high school.

I was moved to post a reply to the thread. And am moved to talk about it here. I think he’s a hero and one of the few old school teachers out there. Did any of you guys have a teacher like him? I had one and will never forget him.

=YC

TGIF.

Brooklyn doesn’t have the same cachet of exciting diversity and synergy that, say, Flushing has. But, today’s NY Times has an interesting article about the ethnic diversity right on Coney Island Avenue. On Coney Island Avenue, you could have a Jewish nursery school near a mosque – but notably, maybe Brooklyn doesn’t have Queens’ famed tolerance – since, as the Jewish woman tells the reporter (I’ll paraphrase) “Being next to a mosque is scary.” Hmm. In my own Brooklyn neighborhood, there is an Islamic center housed in a building that was once a Jewish school (a change that happened the past 15 years – and I remember seeing the little Jewish kids wearing yarmulkas and playing around that school, so think how old I feel) – and, indeed, its cornerstone still has Hebrew etchings on it, but painted over white as if to white-out the past. What does this say about changing demographics in Brooklyn? Hmm.

Slate.com has an interesting assessment on… Scooby Doo. Of all cartoons still capturing kids’ imagination… I confess that I had my own Scooby Doo thing back when I was a kid (and maybe still do? – well, no – I don’t really like the current incarnation of the cartoon on WB). The most amusing thing from this article – the revelation that Casey Kasem is still doing the voice of Shaggy. He retires from taking long distance dedications (handing his radio Top 40 gig to that “great” DJ Ryan Seacrest) and yet still finds time and energy to be Shaggy, even in the current Scooby Doo incarnation on the WB? Wow. Kudos to Kasem’s longevity.

Plus, last night’s local tv news on Channel 4 (WNBC) honored the local anchorman Chuch Scarborough for his 30 years on Channel 4. Salute to Chuck – his longevity on one station is incredibly admirable, especially in an age when just about every local tv news personality has traveled to each station (all these musical chairs thing can be confusing – ex., weather personality Dr. Frank Fields has done all the channels, and a lot of the old timers aren’t even on the air anymore). (Plus, kudos to the others who share the news desk with Chuck at the 11pm time slot – Sue Simmons, co-anchor, and the sports anchor Len Berman, almost rival Chuck in terms of longevity – the familiarity with them and their hijinks makes them a comfort to watch, even if they’re not perfect news folks).

World Championship ice skating threw me off the March Madness last night (not so much fun anyway, when the brackets are ripped up, but I’ll be back to enjoy college b-ball viewing again, I’m sure). Last night’s same-day tape delay on ABC of the men’s final round: Russian man Evgeny Plushenko won the gold medal, considering that he did so many of the quad jumps and bounced back from a fluke of a fall. French man Brian Joubert (whose name sounds like a hockey player, not a figure skater) got silver doing a Matrix (yeah, that Keanu Reeves movie) adaption. German Stefan Lindemann got bronze, a nice prize for a strong performance and home field advantage (i.e., the championships are taking place in Germany). Americans Johnny Weir and Michael Weiss got 5th and 6th places – mostly because they didn’t throw in quads. The Europeans have incredible depth, I must say. Tomorrow, ABC will show the women’s round – will Michelle Kwan do it? Or is it time for the next generation? Hmm.

Enjoy the weekend; the week was long enough.

I’m leaving for San Diego tomorrow morning with P– for the second half of my California travels in search of that American Airlines free ticket ™. YC is driving down from San Jose to rendezvous with my friends in Newport Beach. Later, we’ll drive just over the border. More movement on the “where in the world are we now” meter!

Today, the weather was decent – it actually felt like spring or something like it. Anyway, beware; long blog ahead, since it’s been awhile and there’s been a crop of interesting news and articles.

NY Times Quotation of the Day:

“‘I want the truth.’ – Bob McIlvaine, who attended a hearing of the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks.”

We all want the truth; sadly, it doesn’t mean we’ll get it, because (like in historical research) the truth is never so simple, since it depends on who’s telling the story. Watching the news about the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks (a.k.a. the 9/11 Commission)’s public hearings is interesting television, if I can say that; as some of the commissioners pointed out on the Lehrer Newshour on PBS today, the purpose of the public hearings is to make a point to the public. It may be all for the sake of appearance, but the appearance is a powerful one. The intruiging moment for me was seeing former Senator Bob Kerrey make his pointed remarks (to Albright, he says: “I keep hearing the excuse we didn’t have actionable intelligence. Well, what the hell does that say to Al Qaida? Basically, they knew — beginning in 1993 it seems to me — that there was going to be limited, if any, use of military and that they were relatively free to do whatever they wanted.”) [N.B. – I plugged the lines off of NY Times’ transcript, as it obtained from the Feds; it’s fair use, I’m sure….]. Hmm. Kind of weird that this Kerrey isn’t in the political business like he used to be, while we get the other Kerry (and really, I won’t say more than that and will reserve all rights from saying more about Kerrey/Kerry)…

A depressing March Madness storyin the NY Times: “Graduation Is Secondary for Many in Final 16” – only 4 out of the still-remaining-in -play Sweet Sixteen schools have graduation rates of better than 50% among their men’s basketball players – Duke, Kansas, Vanderbilt and Xavier. Sigh; what does this say about the state of undergraduate education and athletes?

Prof. Michael Dorf of Columbia U’s Law School presents “Justice Scalia’s Persuasive But Elitist Response to the Duck Hunting Controversy” – that J. Scalia’s memorandum is striking for showing how America’s government is reliant on elite people. And, considering how the legal profession itself is emphatic about “networking,” Dorf notes that Scalia is right – it’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know – and Dorf thinks that’s a real sad thing, since it shows how alienated the elitists are from them regular folks. I thought Dorf had good points. This NY Times’ op-ed by the Yale professors about Scalia’s remarks in the memorandum about the airline tickets were funny (although my experiences in buying airline tickets isn’t nearly as great as Scalia’s or the professors, so I wonder how “funny” is “funny” here – haha funny or sarcastic funny, or are the profs serious suggesting that Scalia had committed promissory fraud by purchasing round-trip tickets that he didn’t use because he got on the vice president’s plane for the duck hunting??).

Speaking of Scalia, the news about the case where he did recuse himself has been intruiging. Lehrer Newshour reported that Michael Newdow, the doctor-lawyer-atheist who’s against making his daughter say the Pledge of Allegiance “under God,” didn’t do a bad job in representing himself and the Supreme Court treated him professionally and in as civil manner as could be (check out the commentary Marcia Coyle provided to Gwen Ifill on Real Audio on the Lehrer Newshour website) . Law.com noted that Newdow had as much preparation as was possible to aim for some kind of competence, even if he isn’t a practicing lawyer. So, he managed to downplay the kookiness that he had otherwise demonstrated in his prior public appearances and his arguments seem clearer and persuasive – I mean, really – even the conservative William Safire says Newdow isn’t completely wrong. Scary; although, like with the Kerrey/Kerry thing, I’ll reserve my actual opinions about the Pledge (assuming I have made any opinion on it anyway) – except to say that I think I do agree with Safire on his closing comments; Safire says:

“The only thing this time-wasting pest Newdow has going for him is that he’s right. Those of us who believe in God don’t need to inject our faith into a patriotic affirmation and coerce all schoolchildren into going along. The key word in the pledge is the last one.

“The insertion was a mistake then; the trouble is that knocking the words out long afterward, offending the religious majority, would be a slippery-slope mistake now.

“The justices shouldn’t use the issue of standing to punt, thereby letting this divisive ruckus fester. The solution is for the court to require teachers to inform students they have the added right to remain silent for a couple of seconds while others choose to say ‘under God.’”

A fascinating article on grits, that Southern specialty. Not sure that it’s going to make me try the stuff, but at least I have a better sense of what it is.

In a prior blog entry, I noted that the recent NHL incident wherein the Vancouver player smacked an opposing player real hard; as I expected, Findlaw.com has a law student get around to doing the analysis over whether this is a mere tort or something even worse (he argues that it’s a matter of criminal battery, perhaps). The law student here did a nice job, I thought, for a 1L – tight writing, applying black letter law, and arguing policy. Maybe he had a good editor? Nonetheless, I applaud – he’s understandablylaying the groundworks for his legal career. Plus, it makes me smile knowing that this guy is from Alma Mater (and Findlaw.com even notes who his professor is, and the identity of the prof was not a great surprise)…

Let’s hope the nice weather in NYC stays around long enough to be enjoyed.

Sorry folks, I don’t know anything about March Madness. I barely have enough interest to track one team from one game to the next; keeping track of 4 teams through 64 games is just not going to happen for me. However, if you do want to know how it works, How Stuff Works has the answer.