Category: Brooklyn

You have to be a lawyer to figure out how to actually cash in on American Airlines’ buy 2 get 1 free offer. The deal is: fly twice to California or Florida from New York or Boston before April 15, and get one ticket anywhere AA flies. There are plenty of catches, though: you have to be an AA member, register before making the flights on their website, make sure the flight is a non-stop flight, fly on a published fare, and that the flight returns to the same airport that the flight originated (well, it says “same co-terminal”; I don’t know what that means). The award ticket has blackout dates, is in class “T”, which is bottom basement Economy, is non-upgradable, has a $100 penalty for changes, and must be used by April 15, 2005. That being said, it’s not a bad deal. I’m going to try to do it with P–.

The Lunar New Year begins very early this year — January 22. Chinese, Vietnamese and Koreans celebrate with even more gusto than in Times Square; definately with more food. There is a certain arbitrary way in which the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one is celebrated: the date of Western Civilization’s new year has ranged from January 1 to March 15. Some of the reason that new year celebrations go on for a week I think has to do with the possibility of not exactly knowing whether which day is truly the new moon. I can tell you outside is really dark!

Let’s have more Monkey business this year! Gung Hei Fat Choy!

The other day, the NY Post had this letter to the editor from a NY upstater resident; she apparently resented the downstaters’ whining about the cold. See, upstate, the cold is normal and the downstaters ought to quit complaining and deal with it. Now, I’d be the first to admit that one should stop complaining while one is ahead, but this winter isn’t “normal” – “normal” for NYC is temperatures in the 30’s, not lows in the single digits. And, last week, so I understood from various news venues, even deepest Maine wasn’t enjoying the negative 30 degrees (the governor over there declared an emergency). So, this might actually have been justifiable complaining. Besides, NYC is supposedly in the temperate zone – extreme climates are never fun, whether it’s one of those 100 degree heat waves or Arctic blasts. To complain is human… Just thought I’d air out that vent on my part and perhaps it’s a reminder as to why I should be careful about reading those letters to the NY Post editors (and about reading the NY Post generally).

NY Times’ Quote of the day, 1/20/04:

“‘Where are you going to get the jury pool from, Mars?’ asked Judy Leon, senior vice president of Bowne DecisionQuest, a litigation advisory firm, who added that Ms. Stewart’s campaign had set a new standard for prominent defendants.”

(N.B. – I’ve put the quote in its contextual paragraph, just to give a better sense as to who Judy Leon was).

Random thought – Iowa’s outcomes were interesting. Now it’s time to see how New Hampshire and beyond will work out; the wild ride continues, as the NY Times’ editorial indicated. I’m just glad I didn’t make a real endorsement of anyone in particular – but Howard Dean’s journey is turning into strange viewing; that’s all I’ll say!

I don’t/didn’t always agree with David Brooks, but he made an interesting analysis on the moderate Democrat’s stance. (I question his statement that 9/11/01 hasn’t yet made an impact on the campaign 2004; after all, Iowa isn’t NYS, which has to bear (and already is bearing) a big brunt on the war on terrorism, as far as domestic protection issues are concerned; curious to see who NY’ers will vote for when primary day comes here).

Missed most of the State of the Union address; caught the end and the most of the post-speech analysis; hmm… still trying to figure it out. Probably should read the newspapers/on-line stuff. Shouldn’t complain too much about it – yet.

Enough said. Try again later…

I am almost caught up with my recordings of the DNA series on PBS. Really great stuff, although I have to say I question a practice that I first saw in the PBS series on Time Travel, both imported from England. It’s the whole idea of having the real people participate in video reenactments, enhanced with computer graphics. In one sense, it’s mesmerizing and is sure to get the attention of the attention deficit crowd, but in another, it is a little dishonest in that it lends to dramatizing real life. Like the two old codgers hanging out at that Cambridge bar who then go fishing and model the double helix, or the atomic bomb guy running around King’s College sneaking peeks at the x-rays of the helix. Or in the Time Travel series where the virtual 23rd century Asian schoolteacher and her little charges have a conversation with that (real 21st century) scientist who is being credited as the father of time travel, when he hasn’t exactly done it yet (from our 2004 perspective). Really cool, but makes you say, “Hummmh”.

CBS Orders Two More ‘Survivor’ Challenges (New York Times)

Reuters reports some interesting CBS news snuck into an article about Survivor. CBS is renewing Survivor for 2 seasons, Joan of Arcadia is renewed for next season, and CSI: New York will start in the fall. Everyone Loves Raymond is iffy. CBS President Leslie Moonves, while in the middle of a divorce, is dating Big Brother’s Julie Chen.

It’s a jolt when tragedy repeats itself

No, sorry, it’s a tort and one that some lawyer is gonna cash in on. How stupid is this….

Cold stuff to note:

– Today’s NY Daily News had a cute cover page – a picture of two Central Park Zoo polar bears, the only ones who love the arctic air. They must be enjoying temperatures, their natural habitat’s climate. Must be Mother Nature’s way of consoling the polar bears after the lousy hot summers (which they proabably hated like crazy, particularly when it hits the 100 degree mark or the high heat index feeling).

– Last night’s Channel 11 (WPIX) local 10pm news’ portrayal of the Big Freeze was a little bizarre – roving reporter Marvin Scott (a longtime veteran, mind you, after more than 30 years) was wearing a tiny hat atop of his head, clearly not giving him much warmth, and his face was turning frigid red. Another reporter on another channel had her jacket unzipped, as if we needed to see the color of her blouse. Bundle up, ladies and gentlemen, especially when you’re warning the rest of us to do that! Reporters who looked most warm were found on WNBC (Channel 4) 11pm news – they looked zipped up, with knitted hats and gloves. Good for them.

Last night’s “Threat Matrix” – I caught mostly of the episode (but not really paying all that much attention, using the tv as background noise and still finding the show a little wanting because the writing and acting needs to be tighter). I checked it out, because ABC apparently promoted it in the tv guides as the episode where a cast member would die. They weren’t kidding either, and the episode ended up being stronger for it (I mean, really, it makes a series more interesting when you have the suspense of wondering who’ll be on for the whole season (ex’s., “MI-5” and “Alias” (but almost no one dies in “Alias” anyway)). Although the episode was mostly strong, the “Threat Matrix” lead character, Kilmer, wasn’t too convincing playing angsty, I thought. He meant well, I guess.

Asians on tv – North Koreans are the Team Threat Matrix’s enemy – well, maybe they’re the enemy; when the North Korean diplomat secretly needs the team’s help to rescue his secret illegitimate daughter, not everyone’s an enemy. Then there’s a Korean-American DEA agent helps Team Threat Matrix; but, Kilmer’s disapproving of the DEA’s tactics. Hmm. But, the two then learn that teamwork is good. Okay. There was also a nice touch to educate the viewers: Character A – “I didn’t know Koreans celebrate Chinese New Year.” Paraphrasing Kilmer: “Yeah, Koreans celebrate Chinese New Year; but they call it ‘Lunar New Year.’” Thumbs up, particularly for timeliness.

PBS’s “Now with Bill Moyers” had a nice story tonight – about the Earth Conservation Corps in Washington, D.C., which recruits inner-city young people of southeast D.C. to preserve the Anacostia River (the not-so nice side of D.C., with the worst murder rate in the country). The Corps experience gives hope to the young people – opportunities they never thought about before the Corps: that they can appreciate the once-natural beauty of the region as a part of their heritage, before industry and urban sewage wrecked it; that the participants of the Corps could consider areas of marine biology, environmentalism, and maybe even work in related-government agencies like the National Park Service or others; and that maybe there’s reform, in the hope of so much stacked against them. It is a story that doesn’t get seen in the news very often; there’s hopefulness, in bringing a community to appreciate an environment that could be forgotten as polluted and dead.

Carole Mosley Braun’s withdrawal from the 2004 presidential election had some grace. I think she came out of this better than I thought, even if she fell short of goals and has financial debt. She did well in the debates, and showed that people of color and women can’t be ignored.

Clyde Haberman’s column in the NY Times observes how the politicians’ rhetorical abilities – the talents for eloquence – are in decline. No one makes Gettysburg addresses anymore; as Haberman notes, we’re down to soundbites. But, are soundbites enought to capture our feelings from 9/11//01? As an example, Haberman notes that Rudy Giuliani isn’t exactly a great speaker:

“Mind you, Mr. Giuliani was himself no Churchill as a public speaker, prone as he was to stumble on the verbal debris that litters modern English. A good example came six years ago when he sneered at criticism of his ban on fireworks in Chinatown to celebrate the Lunar New Year. ‘Before we do this, like, cultural thing,’ he said, ‘we have to sort of, like, get real here.’”

Kudos to Haberman for highlighting a timely reference (Lunar New Year is coming, after all) and for Giuliani’s not-so-good moment. But, Haberman appreciates Rudy Giuliani’s soundbite from those early dark September 2001 days, about how the tragedy was, as Giuliani said, “‘more than any of us can bear.”’ Maybe fewer words are the way to go when Americans let images capture our emotion; but Haberman wonders if we’re missing something.

Slate.com’s “Explainer” explains “Why does Iowa Get to Go First?” – very informative.

And, so it goes. When is it going to get warmer? I ought to stop complaining; it’s January, after all.

Last night’s “Star Trek: Enterprise” was all right. It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t great. It aimed to be topical – religious warriors who claim to fight for what they believe is sacred, up against another faction on their planet. They put the Enterprise in danger and Capt. Archer does what he can while keeping his real goal in mind – to fight for Earth. You get the feeling that the Star Trek writers are trying to capture the post 9/11/01 feelings, as they have been trying to do for the past two seasons. But, it felt off for me. Scott Bakula is improving as Archer, but I never quite understood Archer in the first place (even if I had thought that the series premiere was pretty strong).

I once told a friend of mine that a Star Trek series that would reflect the troubled times we’re in should have been more like “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”; in its last four seasons, DS9 was about a war that threatened a society that celebrated democracy and diversity. It was about troubled leaders and societies under pressure, with the Federation and all those honorable Starfleet officers trying not to compromise their values, and having questions about who were friends and who were enemies. It was a soap opera – relationships were made and changed; characters grew, lived, and died (or came back, since no one really dies in good Star Trek – but, Captain Sisko’s fate is still in doubt), but there was a lot of thought put into that series. Some thought does go into “Star Trek: Enterprise,” but I always feel the need for more. More what? Well, as a Supreme Court justice said, I guess I’ll know what when I see it.

I hopefully didn’t give away much about the plot of last night’s “Enterprise” episode, so feel free to catch it in rebroadcasts this week and make your own judgment about it.

Last night’s “Angel,” on the other hand, was good solid fun. The episode starts off with a hilarious “commercial” about the law firm of Wolfram & Hart, promoting how the Los Angeles office’s new management, under President Angel, “won’t kill you so long as you don’t kill anyone,” with the new policy of doing good (stop the evil, as Team Angel, formerly of Angel Investigations, Inc., believe). Harmony, a ditzy blonde girl vampire, is Angel’s administrative assistant at Wolfram & Hart. In the Buffy-universe, Harmony was the popular girl in Sunnydale High School; when Spike made her a vampire, she was not very good at not being evil. When the tv guide said that the episode was Harmony-oriented, I wasn’t impressed at first.

But, the episode was interesting – a weird comedic mystery. Harmony becomes a lot more three-dimensional, but there’s good humor in it. Moving into the Angel world, Harmony’s finding the attempt to be on the side of good to be hard. Unlike Angel and Spike, she doesn’t have a soul; but, she’s obligated to not feed on people anymore while working under the new management of the firm (she needs a job to pay the rent, and unlike Angel, Harmony’s not into angstiness, I guess). But, being the Boss’ assistant doesn’t make her popular in the firm; she’s sitting in the lounge and no one wants to talk to her about the workplace gossip. And, then there’s that matter about the dead guy in her bedroom – Harmony’s in deep trouble and bops a few heads in the attempt to prove she didn’t really commit murder. As Angel says, “Why don’t you just come to me for help?” (and considering his recent behavior, who could blame Harmony for not wanting to go to him?). While Harmony could be bugged about Spike’s continuing infatuation for Buffy, she aims to think positive – she might not be the same popular girl, but she matters in this world.

In the middle of all this, Angel is trying to remain sane in the insane world – but he’s feeling the strain. He and Spike are going to have to figure out who’s the vampire-with-a-soul-with-a-destiny. “Angel” has been hitting better than last season. It better keep it going with the quality and storytelling.

Fitting the weather, I make some references to that particular cold weather/climate sport on ice…

NY Times’ Sports section is sort of underestimated; once in awhile, it gets a weird story that’s quite something. Consider the quotation of the day and the link to the corresponding article, wherein one learns that NHL players aren’t into playing the stereotype of toothless hocky players (at least, not these days):

“When I would walk on the street, people would say to me, ‘You’ve got teeth!’”
– KEN DANEYKO, retired hockey player (NJ Devils)

Ah, yes, technology has made it possible to encourage hockey players to go for better tooth replacements; today’s ad world encourages them to want to preserve their handsome mugs for bigger bucks (not to mention avoid unnecessary pain).

The commercials for the movie “Miracle” – starring Kurt Russell as the coach of the Miracle on Ice USA Team of the Lake Placid Olympics – are fun looking. How does one make a disparate bunch of teenagers who play hockey in their various colleges and states and make them realize they are Team USA? Well, put them on ice and see what happens. Wonder if the movie is as good as its commercials.

This is a beautiful story. History and learning from its unforgiving mistakes is all too lacking in today’s society. See Fighting Hate, Across Cultures and Generations

Woo wee! This is cold stuff eh? NYC Weather report

Hurray, hurrah! About time some one important went to jail. Former Enron executives agree to plead guilty I think Elliott Spitzer is my Man of the Year. Spitzer’s the guy who’s looking out for the little guy cleaning up all the corporate disgrace. Corporate misdeeds run amok, just like our “MBA President”. Birds of a feather, flock together.

Marriage is good but uhhh … Bush Plans $1.5 Billion Drive for Promotion of Marriage ? According to the article, aimed to promote marriage in low-income couples? I don’t think that’s the problem here. How about using some of that money to invest into the US economy and education? Or, if truly targeted “to help couples develop interpersonal skills that sustain “healthy marriages.”, then make mandatory counseling. That will cut down on divorces. You get a lot more divorces when you get power couples like Howard Dean and Dr. Steinberg. Each one its own captain. Eventually, the partnership will be split in two and the kids get screwed. Everyone thinks that divorces can fix your mistakes and everything will go fine. No, it just makes it worse. If divorce is an option, then don’t get married. Period. There was a pointed satirical article about conservatives and marriage a couple of months ago. I am sorry I didn’t save it.

#Rant off

=YC