Category: Brooklyn

Interesting stuff in today’s NY Times:

What does it take to be The Man – in the NBA, that is. Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, and Tim Duncan – can they be The Man? Duncan has the championship rings, so does O’Neal – and yet… Or, do they lack the “killer instinct” that it takes to be The Man?

What does it take to be The Woman? The NY Times’ Maureen Dowd comments on the revitalized Laura Bush and, once again, I wonder what we expect from the First Lady in the turn of the 21st century – fighting for her man, being her own woman, or what?

Continuing a running thread on the blog, I’ll note Tom Friedman’s column today about the outsourcing issue. Friedman highlights a question posed by Robert Reich (ex-secretary of the Dept. of Labor under Clinton): “‘The fundamental question we have to ask as a society is, what do we do about it?’” Friedman closes with his response: “Either way, managing this phenomenon will require a public policy response — something more serious than the Bush mantra of let the market sort it out, or the demagoguery of the Democratic candidates, who seem to want to make outsourcing equal to treason and punishable by hanging. Time to get real.”

The Arts section of the Times profiles actor Christopher Plummer – hmm. I know that he’s an amazing actor, but I’m one of those nuts who still sees him as Capt. von Trapp. Well, time to sing the “Sound of Music” farewell song and bid adieu…

Flying out of JFK in two weeks, being something of a travel freak, and having a nice evening with no obligations on my hands, I wanted to figure out the JFK AirTrain to see if it was practical and figure out any problems with logistics. The major question that I had was whether it was better to take the LIRR to Jamaica or the A Train to Howard Beach. So I decided to take it to Jamaica towards JFK, and the A Train departing from JFK. The tag point would be the schedule screens next to the news stand in front of the security checkpoint at Terminal 9, American Airline’s domestic terminal.

7:05 PM: bus from Downtown Brooklyn to the Flatbush LIRR station (aka Atlantic/Pacific).
7:10 PM: let off across the street on Flatbush after Atlantic Avenue. Big mistake: it’s virtually impossible to cross the street on the south west corner as traffic from those two thorughfares doesn’t stop for anyone. Note to self: get off at the previous stop.
7:18 PM: finally get into station, missed the train that had just left 3 minutes ago. Bought a $2.50 CityPass (a single one way weekend discount fare for travel within the City limits). The full off-peak fare is $6.50.
7:48 PM: next train to Jamaica leaves. This is not your parents’ LIRR train — new faux leather cushioned chairs similarin feel and color scheme to Amtrak’s Acela service. It has a real bathroom which is wheelchair accessible, meaning it’s bigger than my kitchen.
8:07 PM: train arrives on time at Jamaica. Elapsed time for this leg: 62 minutes (actual travel time had all connections been made: 25 minutes)

8:15 PM: tragedy strikes. The AirTrain is down — some sort of computer problem; the computers are being restarted. The bus just left, but another bus will show up in five minutes, at least that was the promise. A number of people go up the elevator only to be told to go back down the escalator.
8:32 PM: bus driver walks over — he was parked around the corner and no one told him he should be where we were standing. Other Chinese guy who was a Chairman Mao look-a-like was going my way — he was equally confused.
8:52 PM: Arrive at American Airlines Terminal 9. Kind of anti-climatic, but things were cooking in the arrivals area.
Total cost: $2.50 plus $1 tip to the bus driver (the bus was free because of the mishap) and 167 minutes (44 minutes of actual travel time). At full fare, this trip would have been $6.50 for the LIRR and $5 for the AirTrain.

As apparently someone managed to give a swift kick into the systems’ innards, I tried the internal loop to get to Terminal 4, the International terminal.
9:00 PM: walked over to the 8/9 AirTrain station. The internal loop train arrived. Pretty much identical to AirTrain Newark’s trains. They are actually not a monorail, but have regular size tracks and an electrified third rail. According to what I read, magnets in the bottom of the train push off against other magnets placed between the rails to propel the train, so there’s no real motor to speak of. The interiors are spacious and suitable for carrying a few pieces of luggage.
9:05 PM: We’re stuck at the station. After a woman fiddles with some hidden controls underneath the back window of the front car, we are finally able to leave the station.
9:10 PM: got to Terminal 4. Whole lot of Koreans waiting in front of the security checkpoint eating and just generally procrastinating before going through security. A Robert Palmer-esque phalanx of 5′-11″ Korean supermodels in flight attendant uniforms part the crowd as they march to the security checkpoint. Contemplate eating dinner, but the best thing on offer was a $6.34 Big Mac, so I pass on it.
9:30 PM: The outbound loop is back in operation, get on the wrong train towards Jamaica. I get off at the 8/9 stop and wait for a Howard Beach train.
9:45 PM: After 2 more Jamaica trains pass, the Howard Beach train arrives. Top speed on the train is something around 60 mph, as we were lapping cars on the Van Wyck at one point, but we eventually coasted to around 45 mph. Annoying conductor begins telling people not to lean on the doors, but there’s nowhere for people to go as it’s as crammed in as the 4 train in the morning. Must have been all of the people who got stuch when the system went down.
10:00 PM: Arrive at Station B, long term parking. The FlyerTalk bulletin board describes a technique where if you know how to exit the parking lot and get to the local streets, you can bypass the last stop and legally avoid paying the $5 fare.
10:15 PM: I walk following underneath the tracks, and end up at the last stop. However, it’s pretty dark, and I can’t find the cross-over to the other side of the street, so I give up and reenter AirTrain through Station A and pay the fare.

Total travel time for this leg: 30 minutes (10 minutes waiting for 3 trains, 15 minutes actual travel time plus 5 minutes walking between Station B and Station A).

Note to NYC natives with an unlimited Metrocard: it’s $5.00 to enter or leave the AirTrain, payable only with a debit MetroCard. Standard Unlimited Metrocard does not work. When leaving at Station A, there are two banks of hi-tech looking turnstiles: a right bank(more like straight ahead) and a left bank . If you take the left bank, your card will be debited $7 for both the AirTrain exit plus the subway entrance. If you take the right bank, you will be only charged $5 for the AirTrain exit. Then you can then turn left and enter the subway through regular turnstiles using your unlimited MetroCard and save $2.00.

10:18 PM: The A train arrives relatively quickly. Trip was quick and uneventful.
10:45 PM: A train arrives at Jay Street/Borough Hall station.
This leg: 27 minutes (30 minutes including waiting time). Total time: 75 minutes (44 minutes actual travel time, assuming 2 additional minutes had I taken the train between Stations B and A). $7 cost (could have been $5 had I not been snookered into not using the unlimited Metrocard, or $0 if I had found the long term parking shortcut).

The options are practically equal from Downtown Brooklyn except for the missed connections and the higher cost of the LIRR. As viewed on The Amazing Race, where connections are involved and all other things being equal, take the option that is more frequent and has the most opportunities for connections. Jamaica/LIRR may work out better going towards Penn Station, since trains show up practically every 5 minutes going in that direction, but there are 30 minute gaps in service going to and from Flatbush. There’s some questions about AirTrain’s overall reliability, but the staff is usually able to reboot the system or get alternate transport relatively quickly. However, while the trip itself is more comfortable and avoids traffic, it doesn’t get there faster than the previous train/bus combo, and it’s $5 more expensive.

Yesterday, I finished reading the medieval England book that I had mentioned previously in the blog. I enjoyed it, and had read the other book in the series back in January. Both books were good subway reading: “The Queen’s Man” and “Cruel as the Grave,” by Sharon Kay Penman (the books’ Amazon links refer to the paperback versions; the author’s official website looked nice, I think).

The series follows the adventures of 20-year old Justin de Quincey, the illegitimate son of the Bishop of Chester in England, in the years 1192 to 1193. In “The Queen’s Man,” Justin becomes (what else?) “The Queen’s Man,” serving the dowager queen of England, Eleanor of Aquitaine: Justin accidentally came across the murder of a loyalist of the queen. The loyalist had information on the capture of the queen’s son, the King Richard the Lionheart; Eleanor asks Justin to investigate the murder – was it to prevent the information from getting to the queen? Was it because the victim had a nutty family who contracted the murderer to do it; or because of something else entirely? Meanwhile, Justin becomes entangled in the craziness that is medieval England, with spies and other double agents. Who shall he trust? Prince John, Richard’s brother, also makes an appearance and hovers in the background; he is apparently the bane of his family, and has his issues about his family (probably a parallel to Justin’s issues with his father; neither man seems to get it that maybe their respective parent isn’t as horrible as they believe).

“Cruel as the Grave” takes place a month later; Justin’s settling nicely in London, and the Queen’s assigning him to get a message to John, who’s trying to keep himself inside Windsor Castle to make a point. Meanwhile, Justin is trying to solve who murdered a 15-year old girl, whose only crime was that she fell in love with someone outside her class – and would this be the reason for her murder?

As mysteries go, “Cruel as the Grave” was a stronger one than “The Queen’s Man” – although the case there was easy to solve (I thought), at least one gets to watch Justin be the detective. “The Queen’s Man” seemed more like an unfolding coincidence, even though there were plenty of suspects; Justin seems to have incidentally figured out the situation. But, both are good yarns, as one follows along Justin’s journeys. The characters come alive, and don’t feel anachronistic at all. And, the context feels right – Penman notes how the Saxons spoke English and the Normans spoke French (and thus the upper crust spoke French), and yet she doesn’t bog down on “thou” or “thee” or whatnot. Justin is also a sweet protagonist, even when he acts tough. Not perfect, he matures in each situation he gets himself into.

Penman clearly did her research and I like her style. Yeah, so she’s an ex-tax attorney, but she has an imagination that works nicely.

Other reading? Note the following:

NY Times article on the Chinatown vans was educational , so to speak.

NY Times on the impending odd NYS election; getting ready for Super Tuesday?

NY1 (the all-news tv cable station) has an interesting series on academia, 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education.

‘American Idol’ Reject Idolized by Web (AP)

William Hung, a Real American Idol

OK, so he’s not that good of a singer, but he’s got moxie, and if he can show up Simon, more power to him!

Some articles or news of note:

ABA E-Journal’s latest humorous anecdotes about the legal profession.

While the post-mortem on the Dean campaign has been going on, writer Paul Gastris in his NY Times op-ed illustrates an obituary for the Wesley Clark campaign. I thought Clark had brought a certain edge to the 2004 campaign (“ooh, a general! Cool!”), but his inexperience proved to have been his undoing.

Bill Moyers is apparently leaving “Now” on PBS, after the election, to write a book on his experiences working for President Lyndon B. Johnson. Darn sad; Moyers made me appreciate a lot of stories that I wouldn’t have thought heard or thought about and he made me re-appreciate old fashioned liberalism with his respectful yet charged tone of voice. Hopefully PBS won’t turn away from “Now” (which won’t be the same without Moyers, although David Brancaccio as co-host has been nice watch, at least to help ease the burden on Moyers), but we’ll see how this goes.

NY Times’ report on the impending subway changes, effective 12:01 am, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2004. Pro: N-line will be on the Manhattan Bridge, ending an almost 20-year detour in the tunnels between Court St. Whitehall stations, and the B and D lines will be back in Brooklyn. Con: B will be on the old D-line and D will be on the old B-line. According to the article, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) recognizes that the old-time Brooklynites will be confused that the B will be on the old D-line and the D will be on the B-line, but claims that the short-term confusion will be fine (and, yeah, I’ve mentioned in a previous blog entry that I grew up back when the B was the B and the D was the D – and that was just less than five years ago). In fact, MTA allegedly has an explanation for why the planners couldn’t put the lines back together again in Brooklyn, the article notes:

“One of the most controversial aspects is the swapping of the old B and D lines, with their return to Brooklyn. Many residents remember growing up near the lines and will have to remember the switch.

“In the end, this was a decision based mostly on trying to simplify things, planners said. The B train in the Bronx currently runs only during the weekdays because of station rehabilitation work along the route and less demand. Planners decided that they wanted to connect this to the weekday-only line in Brooklyn. Planners conceded that they could have simply switched the designation in the Bronx, but they decided that would only confuse riders there.”

So, why is it that it is not worthwhile to confuse the riders of south Bronx, but okay to confuse the 4 million Brooklynites? Huh? (yeah, I don’t know how many people in the south Bronx take the B and D, so anyone may feel free to correct any of my misconceptions; but I still feel that the switch in Brooklyn is still an outrage). And, what about the immigrant populations of the Midwood/Brighton Beach lines (the old D line) and Bensonhurst (the old B line), forget the English-speaking population? I’d sit on the W subway (which substituted the B in Brooklyn the past three years or so), and I’d still hear Cantonese-Chinese speakers refer it as the (gasp!) B. Where’s the simplification in this?

I mean no offense to the MTA, really and my views are entirely my own and not representative of anyone else’s; I’ll quietly adjust to the N changes from where I am to get to work, but I’m just still baffled about why the switch on the B and D. End of rant.

In a previous blog, I discussed the virtues of the Travelocity commercial and the Gnome. Much to my amusement, it turned out that I one-upped the Slate.com “Ad Report,” as it too has recently commented on the Travelocity ad campaign. (well, I was wondering when Slate.com was going to get to the subject of the Gnome anyway). Slate.com “Ad Report” writer Seth Stevenson gave it a B-minus, because he figured that the Gnome can only go so far (umm, creatively, that is). Stevenson has a point, but in the meantime, I still think it’s a cute ad campaign. Oh, and he notes an explanation for why Travelocity gave Bill the Gnome a British accent (although I still prefer my “Full Monty” theory).

Ok, ok. Time to go…

On the Apprentice, Donald Trump’s right-hand man and general counsel George “Determinator” Ross is a ’53 grad of my law school. What a great, but high pressure GC gig that must be? My DVR failed to record this week’s episode because it recorded the competing Enterprise. Have to say I rather watch the Apprentice this time.

Mega Millions is now up to $222 million. That’s an extra $7 million from what it was when we passed the billboard on the BQE. I took the $2 that I won last time and reinvested it for Friday’s drawing. The odds of winning the jackpot are greater than 1 in 143 million; however, the odds of winning something is better than 1 in 43, which isn’t so bad.

Gage and Tollner, Brooklyn’s oldest restaurant, closed down on Saturday. It was counting on business from Ratner’s MetroTech to roll over and support a higher end market, but it never happened. The campus atmosphere encouraged companies to fund their own cafeterias so employees wouldn’t ever have to leave their buildings. The she-crab soup was really something, not to mention the landmark gas lit interior. I’d like to express my gratitude to all of the expense account meals that others have treated me there.

OnFocus briefly linked to us due to a few book mentions, such as The Tipping Point (note to everyone else writing — link your book reviews to Amazon) . The ultra-summary on the Tipping Point: there are three types of influencial people in the world: Connectors (know a lot of people), Salespeople (know how to be convincing), and Mavens (know how to find the info). The most powerful people are those that have 2 or more of these characteristics. It isn’t necessary to work on convincing a majority of the people. The actual tipping point that starts a chain reaction, or “epidemic”, turns out to be between 5% and 20%, if those “tipped” are composed of these influencial people. Growth occurs exponentially after that point. The author could have said that, and left it at that, but his book contract must have been similar to Charles Dickens — by the word. The thesis is rather simple and profound, but he repeats examples and concepts in the same way that one does to make a page limit for a term paper.

I’m booked for 2 trips to California with P– in March: 4-7 in San Francisco to catch the San Francisco International Asian Film Festival and see Napa, and 27-30 in San Diego to drive around Orange County and see Tiajuana, Mexico. That should net 10K miles, plus 5K + 1K mile bonuses, plus a free American Airlines ticket. Let’s see how that goes; I hope to see you there if you are in the area.

In the same vein, someone is trying to make a mega mileage run — he’s going to spend $7,000 to accumulate 500K miles within three months. That’s crazy!

YC just one step closer to Malaysian nuptials; leaving in his wake the SF gay marriage showdown. Would like to see him at the airport…

I’ve been quite busy; you’d think that with the President’s day holiday on Monday that a short week wouldn’t be so busy.

NY Times’ Quotation of the Day:

“We are not going away. We are staying together, unified, all of us.” – Howard Dean, M.D.

Nice words, Governor; easier said than done, of course. I’ll give Dr. Dean credit for giving us a real strange ride in the 21st century’s first presidential campaign (putting aside the question of whether the year 2000 counts as “21st century” and considering how the Internet had such an influence on the Deaniacs). Otherwise, let’s see how a political veteran like Kerry (and how a smooth litigator like Edwards) will pull it off…

NBC’s Tom Brokaw had an interesting op-ed piece in the Times today – raising the question of whether the American homefront should sacrifice more in the war effort. Our interesting times are not like the wartime experiences of the “Greatest Generation” that Brokaw has long profiled – wherein the Victory gardens and the huge recycling efforts made WWII a unified struggle (and the one and only “good” war, putting aside whether we view the War Against Terrorism as a “good” war, one usually defined as clear Good v. clear Evil).

Law.com has an interesting article on lawyers who blog (usually on substantive stuff, of course), in “It’s a Blog World After All.”

Last night’s “Angel” was good and hilarious – due to a mystical mishap, Angel is turned into a… muppet? (puppet would have to be the correct term, since “Muppet” is a trademark, I suppose). It’s strangely funny to see a sword wielding vampire in fuzzy felt fabric form. Meanwhile, the sidekick Charles Gunn’s mystically-empowered brain is losing his mystically-gained (and arguably endowed by the powers of evil) legal skills and education. He (probably wrongfully) recharges himself with more (evil-influenced) mysticism to regain his competency as a (probably shouldn’t be practicing) lawyer. Hehehe. And, WB is cancelling this series? Ugh!

Perhaps “Star Trek: Enterprise” should wither away, so to let the Powers that Be behind the Star Trek universe recharge their creative juices? (considering that I’m of the few of my acquaintances who has managed to last this long – since most lost their interest due to the inconsistencies of “Star Trek: Voyager” – I’m amazed that I have finally weaned myself (sort of) off my Trekkiness. “Enterprise” is sort of like 12-step program for old Trekkies/Trekkers – not that I want to insult the current Powers behind Star Trek, but the current show just lacks a certain panache). So it goes. Can’t wait for Friday.

He shoots, he scores! I got the roses from James Weir Florist in Brooklyn Heights instead of at Chelsea Market. Turns out that I got the roses for the same price that I would have gotten from Chelsea Market. These were no bodega flowers — these were the real thing, a dozen long stems in a box.

As an interesting historical aside, James Weir started this florist shop in 1859. He is the guy responsible for changing the name of the area called Yellow Hook into what is now known as Bay Ridge.

As a gag, I dressed in typical Chinese delivery guy attire: black slacks, blue shirt, baseball cap and, the piece de resistance, a turquoise blue parka. I took one of the business cards and wrote P–‘s name and address on it and proceeded to take the subway. I had my hood on all the time on the train. It’s kind of interesting — nobody thought it was my roses on the train.

Getting off near Hunter College, I kept up the facade. I got up to the guards at P–‘s workplace, mumbled “delivery” and handled over the card. They called her up to the front, and I sprung it on her. Boy did I get everyone! We went to East for sushi for lunch, and went happily ever after.

I’m over her place right now, and the roses are holding up pretty well!

Today’s NY Times’ Quotation of the Day:

“If anybody tells you they wouldn’t be interested in being vice president, they’re not telling you the truth.”
– SENATOR JOHN BREAUX, Democrat of Louisiana.

Nice thought, Senator Breaux. Be sure to check out the fascinating corresponding article too.

See, there are reasons why I try to avoid on-line spoilers about tv shows. “Angel” may or may not have its last season (which WB almost sprang on people last season), with more emphasis on the more-likely-than-not. WB, like so many other networks, finds ways to frustrate me. Heck, just to sound like a conspiracy theorist, I ask, “Are they all trying to make me go to cable??”

CBS, as much as I’ve long wanted to avoid it (because I never did forgive it for cancelling a show I liked, and for being serious hypocrites with the whole Reagan movie and Super Bowl halftime nonsense), has done nicely with “Joan of Arcadia.” I enjoyed this article about this nice show.

Enjoy the rest of this V-Day night.

The day before V-Day…

Some ABA E-Journal referred articles that I thought were interesting:

– should the so-called professionals be exempt from consumer protection laws, because they’re self-regulated? NJ says yes, and sent the issue back to the legislature to say otherwise?

– “ABA Says States Should Decide Who Can Marry” – seems like the ABA is aware that the reality of federalism, as the Founding Fathers knew, is about balancing the states’ rights and the federal government’s roles: while the ABA has postponed deciding its actual position on gay marriage (not an easy issue), it clearly holds that states have jurisdiction over marriage. Plus, ABA is sure that states shouldn’t rough up immigrants, because that’s the feds’ job.

I thought the political scene currently is eerie; besides the whole What Did George W. Do During the 1970’s?/What’s John Kerry Doing in That Photo Behind Jane Fonda During his Anti-Vietname Phase? (and why can’t we leave both guys alone with what they did or didn’t do during the 1970’s?), the Wesley Clark quip to John Kerry was amusing. According to the NY Times today, Clark headed to Wisconsin to endorse Kerry and the remark:

“‘Request permission to come aboard, the Army’s here,’ a smiling General Clark said as he and Mr. Kerry appeared at a rally here, four days before the Wisconsin primary.

“Mr. Kerry, a Navy lieutenant during the Vietnam War, said, ‘This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had the privilege of saying ‘Welcome aboard’ to a four-star general.’”

Plus, the NY Times article closes with an amusing moment for other remaining Democratic party candidate John Edwards: “Mr. Edwards took questions from the crowd in Racine [WI], which included dozens of high school students, but his drive to reach voters was apparent. Before he began answering, he whispered to an aide, ‘Are they old enough to vote?’”

Yes, and that’s the way the world is…