Category: Brooklyn

It’s 10:35pm; do you know where your children are? Just when you think it’s time to give up with baseball, they suck you back in… This Boston v. Oakland, Game 5, is turning out to be quite a watch. The A’s are trying to tie it up – again – and poor Johnny Damon had to be ambulanced out. The Yankee fans must be biting their nails, worrying who will be the team their team shall play in the league champion round. Makes me almost glad that I usually put up with the Mets.

Cue Soundtrack: Heather Headley, “If It Wasn’t For Your Love”. [Windows Media]
Go ahead, hit the link — it’s the couple’s song — and keep on reading.

Dragonboaters salute the new couple

There are certain experiences that are hard to put into words, or at least are easier to put in terms of another culture or another mode of expression. This wedding was one of those times.

Would I be standing here
After all these years
Among the stars above
Maybe not, if it wasn’t for your love

Just for the fact that this was a chicken dance-, electric slide-, macarena-, and (almost) conga- free wedding banquet automatically put it in the top five. Also, there were no Stupid Cantonese Wedding Tricks, which was also excellent. The food was quite good, the noodles were song (that’s al dente to everyone else) and the booze was free-flowing. But the fact that there were 65 tables of guests — that is 650 people — that put it over the top.

Smiling faces all around
Like when a king that has just been crowned
A battle has been won
That I’d have lost
If it wasn’t for your love

Waves of food served by an army of waitstaff, circles of dancers clasped and coupled every which way, the bride and groom carried aloft by dozens of people much like if there was a giglio (that’s an Italian dancing tower to you) during the “Hava Nagila” (“Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad”, a traditional Jewish wedding dance song). Just if it were Chinese with techno music. Agape would be the right word — the joy that everything is right for once in the world.

A fairy tale unfolds
More true than stories I’ve been told

One of the unspoken rules on this blog is that — to protect the innocent — we aren’t going to name anyone not in the public view, not even fellow writers. However, there were so many people at this wedding that I think the new couple qualifies as public figures. You’ve touched the lives of so many people in such a profound way that this is the fairy tale that you deserve: we’ll deal with tomorrow in the sequel, but today, the day is yours.

At last my chance to shine
And all in perfect time
The life I once dreamed of
Who’d have thought
If it wasn’t for your love

I think that was the night that I found it too.

Congratulations, Delphia and Darrow!

I think I’ve overloaded on the television stuff, but that’s just me.

CBS’ “The Handler”
starring Joe Pantaliano, he’s an FBI handler, that is, he preps the special agents who go undercover and retrieves them when their cases are done or get messed up. The series’ premiere was intruiging. Missed last night’s episode, but I can recommend it.

Of course, last night’s “Boomtown” was incredibly good. The show’s about the different views of the cops and LA’s deputy DA when dealing with a case. Actor Neal McDonough as the David McNorris, the deputy DA, was the focus of yesterday’s office; he struggled with prosecuting a cop-killer, his feelings about his father, and his alcoholicism (he just got back from rehab). The portrayal of his internal conflict (where he imagines himself yelling at his boss; versus his reality where he shakes his boss’ hand, thanking him for his support) was great. The actor should have been nominated for an Emmy for his stunning work of last season. (sidenote – McDonough played Lt. Hawke on “Star Trek: First Contact” the movie).

CBS’ “Joan of Arcadia” – quite good so far. The theme song, a slimmed down version of Joan Osbourne’s “One of Us” (the song asking what if God was one of us…) is, well, slimmed down. Amber Tamblyn, ex-Emily of “General Hospital,” plays Joan, a girl who sees God, who takes up the form of any person to tell Joan to set things in motion. Quite fun, really, watching things unfold. Strong cast, with Joe Montagna as Joan’s dad (everytime I hear his voice, I think of the character’s he played on “The Simpsons” (Fat Tony); I can’t help it!) – the police chief of Arcadia; Mary Steenburgen as Joan’s mom; and Jason Ritter as Joan’s wheelchair-using brother (who strongly resembles his dad, the late John Ritter). I definitely recommend this show.

Stay tuned…

And, before I go to sleep, I checked out the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, the entertainment magazine. Dated October 10, 2003, it’s the Photo Issue – “The Year’s Best Pictures,” with George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones on the cover (probably to promote their upcoming movie). Love these kinds of issues – glossy pictures, and more glossy pictures. Plus funny captions. Got to love the funny captions. And, the articles…

Notable lines from this week’s issue, for laugh-out-loud value:

1. Re: The review for “Miss Match,” NBC’s new show for Alicia Silverstone as a divorce lawyer/matchmaker –

“The most successful dramas on television provide hours of face time with just the kinds of people we try hard to avoid in real life – cops, lawyers, surgeons, judges, and pretty much anyone who analyzes bodily fluids for a living [in reference to the CSI folks, probably]…. Do we really need another season chockful of pervy miscreants with high-speed Internet connections and the gruff cops in no-nonsense footwear who stalk them? Survey says: no.” (Entertainment Weekly, “Love Connection,” Carina Chocano, p. 109, October 10, 2003).

2. Re: a line about the Showtime channel’s sci-fi series, “Jeremiah” –

“Chances are you didn’t catch the first season (or know there was one), so here’s the premise: Jeremiah (Luke Perry) and his pal Kurdy (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) are two of only a couple thousand survivors of a pandemic, and now they’re fighting evil people for control of the deadly virus. Yes, Dylan and Theo are humanity’s only hope. And, this second-season premiere finds Jeremiah reconnecting with his long-lost dad and Jurdy getting some help from Sam Gamgee – sorry, Sean Astin [as guest star]…. Extra points for best random grouping of former teen stars, but there’s little reason to watch beyond that.” (Entertainment Weekly, “What to Watch,” review by Jennifer Armstrong, p. 115, October 10, 2003).

Dylan and Theo? Gosh, even the imagery is just… bizarre. And the Lord of the Rings reference. Ah, only in Entertainment Weekly.

P.S. – Angel’s season premiere on WB this Wednesday – it was actually fun, in the Buffy/Angel usual kind of way. This is going to be quite a season.

[I’m actually writing this on the 4th, but since I’m the admin, I get to warp space and time in this little domain. It also fits neatly that gap between the 2nd and the 4th.]

I went to the opening of the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, which is part of their new student center at Washington Square South. Wow, what we could have done if that were there when I went there! (say that three times fast). The premiere [AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution] [N.Y. Times] was 5 dance segments by the Parsons Dance Company. The most amazing performance was by Angel Corella of the American Ballet Theatre in “Caught”. The performance used a carefully timed strobe light. When the stage was dark, Corella would move into position on stage. He would jump into the air, pose, and activate the strobe light. When the strobe flashed, the audience would only see the final result of the movement. In this way, he seemed to float across the stage, sometimes walking, sometimes gliding. At the end of each sequence, he would reappear standing ramrod straight in a single regular spotlight on stage, and he wouldn’t even appear winded. Absolutely amazing! I wished that I could have taken pictures. [The New York Times article has a full sized picture.]

World’s largest cube fridge

The temperature has taken a dramatic drop. It must be around 55 degrees F! There is that crispness in the air that is distinctive of fall.

In other freezer news, my freezer is defrosting. I’ve got one of those ancient circa 1950’s refrigerator/freezers. It’s so old that the freezer is a box inside the refrigerator, like a giant version of those dorm cube fridges. There ‘s no easy way to do it but to just turn it down low and just let it melt. They apparently hadn’t invented the drain pan yet, so it all ends up at the bottom of the cabinet, mostly in the veggie tray. I used the top of a spray bottle as a makeshift pump to get enough of the liquid out to pull it out without getting it all over the floor. Two half buckets of water and paper towels were deposited down the toilet. There is still about half a gallon of ice still in the box. I guess the advantage is that the stuff in my fridge had enough ice in there to keep it going during the blackout.

Did I mention that it’s getting cold in the living room?

Okay, does anybody notice that the McDonald’s “Chicken Breast Strips” commercials are on the air way too much? Kind of ridiculous – “Ooh, look, real chicken meat!” – as if that makes it healthier (it’s still fried chicken; a McChicken without the bread, lettuce, and mayo). I’ll likely end up eating this latest item, but do I have to see the commercial twice in a row? (okay, not exactly; in between was a car ad or something).

Then, there’s the weird Buick Rainier ad. It’s weird for a lot of reasons. First, odd name for a minivan/SUV hybrid. Second, the ghost character who comes forth to guide the engineers to design this hybrid vehicle – wearing a fedora and nice suit to look like he’s a classic 1950’s Good Olds Guy mascot (umm, yeah, Oldsmobile is a different type of car, I know). Third, the appearance of the head engineer/auto designer, whom I recognize is the actor who plays the lead character for ABC’s “Threat Matrix” (the series about a Dept of Homeland Security special forces unit). By the end of the Buick commercial, the engineer character looks proudly smug, thinking, “Yes, I listened to the ghost, I’ve built it, and they will come!”

Well, I don’t know if people will go for the car or not, or else be confused that this is actually an ad for “Threat Matrix” (which, I could discuss in another blog entry, but suffice it to say that it’s a strange, cheesy show; did anyone hear the joke about it, calling it “Threat Nemo”??? It remains to be seen if the series is more than a joke, but it’s a guilty pleasure right now, just waiting for it to try something really silly, not just be a brazen take on current Homeland Security issues).

For me the interesting television shows seem to be on CBS this season. Survivor 7 a.k.a. Pearl Islands [sirlinksalot links] is far more interesting this season because of the increased role-play. The survivors are really shipwrecked, and they fend for themselves more. That being said, episode two has one skinny guy trying for dear life to stay on, but gets voted off, while another manly man tries really hard to get out, but can’t manage it.

W. 42 St. facing east

In other reality show news, my all time favorite reality/contest show is The Amazing Race, which looks like it will be saved for another season because it won an Emmy. A Korean chica from NY won Big Brother 4 (the only other Asian — and fellow New Yorker — to win a reality show was on ABC’s The Mole 2), but it was not like she and the other final contestant turned the show into a “lesser of two evils” race to the bottom.

Joan of Arcadia‘s pilot is facinating if bizzare. It’s basically God as the guy in Quantum Leap from the perspective of the chick in Dawson’s Creek, if she’s always the one Touched by an Angel and her family was like the one in Family Matters (you know, the one with Erkle in it, where his dad is the police chief). The theme song, Joan Osborne’s “One of Us“, seemed to be the pitch song for the series: they literally had God as a “Just a slob…/… on a bus” during the first 15 minutes.

I watch a lot of Food Network, and I like the wierd, obscure shows. I guess technically every cooking show is a “reality” show. The closest touch between reality and irony was in this past week’s episode of Anthony Bourdain’s A Cook’s Tour in Brazil. The focus was on “Fabio”, a bon vivant “carioca” (Rio de Janero resident) who is a professional beach bum by day, playboy by night. Comments that “life is short” and to the Umberto’s Clam House shootout are prophetic to the note at the end of the credits which say “In memory of our friend Fabio —–“.

This past weekend:Brooklyn Museum’s Pulp Fiction — interesting Anti-asian propaganda sub-exhibit. Kang Suh comes through again for dinner. A deja vou all over again house party on the West Side. Setting up a computer system for a single mom and her son. Not bad compared to the “no good deed goes unpunished” week that was. This week’s events: T—‘s birthday on Wednesday. College alumni event on Thursday. I’m ushering a 600 person Chinese banquet on Saturday. I had thought that it was this past Saturday; because I was such a ditz, I had to pay for dinner for P–. If you’re going to the “dragonboaters’ wedding”, I’ll see you there.

Okay, so my first blogging attempt consisted of comments on television and books. Ah, well, they are of my interests, high-brow or not.

Anyway, I’ll stay on topic. I thought the season premiere of WB’s “Everwood” was quite good. When it first started last season, I didn’t think it was that much better than average. Yes, WB heavily promoted it and it had seemed pretentious, with the whole “Yeah, we’re a good family quality WB show” look to it. The series follows the misadventures of Dr. Andy Brown, his children, the brooding teen Ephram and happy-go-lucky Delia, as they moved to their new home in Everwood, CO, from New York City after the death of Mrs. Brown. The lives of the other Everwood denizens also get portrayed. It can seem very mundane (“Oh, look, a show about a Rockwellian small town; can we get any more sweet and precious around here?”), and at one point, when I channel-changed to WB, I found that it tiresome to keep watching Ephram’s tirade about how Andy was a bad dad for not being around, for being too busy being Super Neurologist, and for moving them out of New York City (which, he has a point, since Andy was probably taking his grief too far). Andy’s attempts to be the new general practitioner in Everwood could be trite. Andy’s medical rival, Dr. Harold Abbott, seemed too smug, and the Abbott teenagers, Bright and Amy, were too perfect. I couldn’t see why Ephram even had his crush on Amy, besides her being pretty (I thought her stubbornness seemed annoying).

“Everwood” is no “Dawson’s Creek” substitute. There’s no Dawson-Joey-Pacey love triangle, even if “Everwood” tried to play out the Ephram-Amy-Colin storyline. You see, there are – gasp – adults on the show.

But, yes, “Everwood” is a WB show, with WB characteristics – the teens are all moody, making pop references, etc. But, no, not one character is perfect, they’re flawed and all very human. You want to shake them, smack them on the upside of their heads for their bad actions; hug and admire them when they do well; and, their actions have consequences, for good or not. I would end up glued to watch for a whole hour, without originally meaning to do that. I didn’t even plan to watch this season’s premiere – but ended up doing it. It’s moving television, without being saccharine.

In the season premiere, Andy is feeling guilt for having operated Colin, who died off-screen in the end of last season’s finale. The town condemns Andy, for losing their local hero. Amy won’t forgive Andy, for taking away the love of her life. Ephram wants to be on his father’s side, but hates how the town’s alienation is affecting the Browns, as if Andy’s kids had to suffer for Andy’s sins. Is Amy taking her grief too far? Will Andy explain what happened? It’s quiet turmoil, if you can believe that television still does that anymore. I know it’s up against Monday night football, but it’s a great alternative.

Now, enough about a season premiere; I have to watch a series premiere already. Hmm. Should be interesting.

Summer is over and we have the million dollar question: what did you do this summer? Time to reflect and ponder; summer tv and summer reading had their moments. Here’s what I have to say:

As much as reality television is fun for some people, I’m so glad for the return of traditional form of television viewing – that is, stuff derived from written scripts, and actors acting, and so forth, rather than the construction of producers and contestants who seek their 15 minutes of fame (one can’t really call it “reality” if it’s that constructed). I can see why some people look to cable to escape the networks’ offerings, since who needs to see what the networks’ call “reality”

P.S. – this fall, CBS’ “Survivor” is back and is as chaotic as ever. The contestants seem to be backstabbing earlier than ever. Hmm. Well, it seems reality tv is easier to digest when there’s a return to non-reality offerings available.

Notable summer stuff: A&E’s “MI-5” has been topsy-turvy viewing – a show about the workings of the British counter-espionage agency (the guys who spy within the country against the country’s enemies). It has already been broadcasted in Britain. Considering that the Brits have a shorter run of a television “season,” there is less of an expectation to keep cast members around – so, the grizzly violence of “MI-5” leaves one guessing as to who gets to be the victim of the week. There’s more reality to “MI-5” than in any Bond flick (when you have references to terrorism and political references and issues, well, what would you expect? Bond never pretended to be about reality). “MI-5” was/is gripping television. Plus, interesting guest stars – such as Anthony Head, the guy who played Giles from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and was once the Taster’s Choice commercial guy; and even Hugh Laurie, the guy who played Stuart Little’s dad in “Stuart Little” and played Bertie Wooster in PBS’ Masterpiece Theatre’s broadcasts of the “Jeeves and Wooster” series based on P.G. Wodehouse’s books.

What I read during the summer in the subway:

“London’s Perfect Scoundrel,” by Suzanne Enoch. Published in 2003. Yes, it’s a cheesy, paperback romance novel, but I enjoyed it. I’d recommend it as a good read for the subway commute. Sexy, sensual, and fun – yes, indeed. It takes place during Regency England, turn of the 18th century, when the Prince of the Wales is covering for his dad, Mad King George III. The Marquis of St. Aubyn, Michael Halboro, is a serious scoundrel – he’s a swinging bachelor, enjoying the pleasures of married women, facing threats from cuckolded husbands, making sure he has no illegitimate children, and gambling. Evelyn Ruddick is a young, respectable lady, recruited to help her annoying brother earn a seat in Parliament. She wants to get her own life, and decides to volunteer to reform a London orphanage. It turns out that St. Aubyn is the head of the board of governors of the orphanage and aims to seduce Evelyn. Evelyn aims to help the orphans. The story can be a little unbelievable, but St. Aubyn the anti-hero does get nicely redeemed. Even Evelyn isn’t nearly as dim as she initially appears, taking great lengths to redeem St. Aubyn, to help the orphans and maybe to love the guy. His bad conduct does rub off on her, but that’s to her benefit, really – she gets to be less self-righteous and a lot more vivacious. Meanwhile, St. Aubyn learns to recognize the feeling in his chest is his heart – yeah, he has one. It’s a good read.

“Funeral in Blue,” by Anne Perry. Published in 2001 (hardcover). Victorian mystery, 1860’s London. Monk, private investigator, must figure out why Elissa Beck died, or else her husband, Kristian Beck, will be found guilty. But, who really is Elissa, who had seemed to be a proper English lady bitter by life with Kristian, and why would anyone kill her? And, there’s more to Kristian than Monk thought; Kristian isn’t just a nice, dedicated immigrant Bohemian doctor who came to England for a better life and reform medical services. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the characters, even though the solution still had me puzzled and seemed a little weak.

Until later; stay tuned for more…