Triscribe

Category: Brooklyn

  • December 2010: Where has this year gone?

    Pardon the hiatus.  Hello December 2010!  Let’s dust things off a bit here…

    December 1, 2010, items to consider:

    Dates to think about: World AIDS Day.  Washington Post also notes that this is the day in history – in 1955 – of when Rosa Parks got arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat, leading to the boycotts; the day of the conclusion of a Crazy 1824 Presidential Election – where the House ended up making John Quincy Adams the winner to end a deadlock in the vote, pissing off Andrew Jackson; and in 1860, Charles Dickens initiating the serial format of “The Great Expectations” (the novel with two endings);  ten years since the crazy 2000 Presidential Election, when the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on what became Gore v. Bush.  Wow…

    Happy Hanukkah!  I thought that this op-ed piece by Howard Jacobson, this year’s Booker Prize winner, was very interesting about his take on Hanukkah.  With some Jewish-British (British Jewish?) wit, Jacobson asks how to make Hanukkah relevant in this crazy modern world:

    Everyone knows the bare bones of the story. At Hanukkah we celebrate the Maccabees, also known as the Hasmoneans, who defeated the might of the Syrian-Greek army in 165 B.C., recapturing the desecrated Temple and reconsecrating it with oil that ought to have run out in a day but lasted eight. Indeed, Hanukkah means “consecration,” and when we light those candles we are remembering the re-dedication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem.

    But how many Jews truly feel this narrative as their own? I’m not asking for contemporary relevance. History is history: whatever happens to a people is important to them. But Hanukkah — at least the way it’s told — struggles to find a path to Jewish hearts. [….]

    Isn’t there something a touch suspicious, for example, about our defeating the Syrian-Greek army? It lacks equivocation. Escaping from bondage in Egypt by dint of magic and smart talk is comprehensible: Exodus played to our strengths. Similarly, Esther — who had married out of the faith, remember — turning the tables on Haman. In our best stories, we lose a little to gain a little. We use our heads. Trouncing the Syrian-Greeks sounds worryingly like wish fulfillment, and the story of the oil that should have run out after one day actually lasting eight feels too much like parable.

    I’m not suggesting that lighting the candles isn’t fun. A menorah can be beautiful and calling the ninth candle — with which, in ascending order, you light the other eight — the “shamash” has a nice edge of wit to it. A “shamash” is a servant, usually the person who looks after the synagogue, and there is something about personifying this humble candle as a beadle that amused me as a child. There is even a lesson in it: sometimes we do not burn for ourselves alone. But then again you don’t want that to turn into one of those excruciating rabbinic banalities that Hanukkah encourages because there is so little else for the rabbi to talk about. [….]

    The cruel truth is that Hanukkah is a seasonal festival of light in search of a pretext and as such is doomed to be forever the poor relation of Christmas. No comparable grandeur in the singing, no comparable grandeur in the giving, no comparable grandeur in the commemoration (no matter how solemn and significant the events we are remembering), in which even the candles are small and burn out pretty much the minute you light them. [….]

    So what’s to be done? Either Hanukkah should merge with Christmas — a suggestion against which the arguments are more legion even than the Syrian-Greek army — or it should be spiced up with the sort of bitter irony at which the Jewish people excel. Instead of the dreidel, give the kids their own cars for Hanukkah, in memory of the oil that should have run out but didn’t.

    Maybe we should also dedicate each candle to one of the more recent narrow escapes of Jewish history. The Spanish Inquisition candle. The Russian Pogroms candle.

    I’ve seen it argued, too, that those Christmas doughnuts that Germans call “Berliners” in fact are direct relations of the oily cakes and fritters Jews bake at Hanukkah to celebrate “the miracle of light.” That Hanukkah would thus have gone on being unknowingly remembered in Germany even when all the Jews had gone from it is a victory of sorts. I’d light two candles to that.

    Last but not least:

    Like past Novembers (see 2007, 2008, and 2009), I participated in National Novel Writing  Month (NaNoWriMo).  I made it past the 50k word minimum, and more or less finished a rough draft that won’t be seeing the light of day for awhile.   “A Danger to Self and Others” is my so-called spy novel – “so called” because the spies spent more time getting all angsty than anything else.  The tale ended on “To be Continued,” since it is technically part of my ongoing Agency series (a “series” since I don’t really write Agency stories in any particular sequence), where a secret British Agency deals with the waning Cold War and then the first Gulf War and various implications.

    The tale is a bit of a caper, but also an origins story of how one of the characters actually got into the spy business in the first place.  Violence included a couple of dead bodies, fire, gunfire, crazy car chase scene, and some judo.   And, much Pointless Conversation (indeed, “Pointless Conversation” was the title of one of my chapters).  “A Danger to Self and Others” also included the words “Magical Hand Grenade” (wherein the spies decide on using an object to cause some destruction, the “magical” part consisting of the fact that they weren’t using a real hand grenade).

    Yes, this so-called spy story really needs much, much revising!

    Much to catch up on.  To be continued…

  • Election Day 2010

    What I noted/posted last year still holds: go vote, even when it’s hard to do it in (yet another) lousy election year, because it is our civic duty and our right.

    Otherwise, enjoy the nice weather.

    More posts to come, as I acknowledge that I fell way behind on blogging…

  • Welcome to Fall 2010 TV Seasons/Series Premieres!

    Yes, it’s been awhile since my last post and I still haven’t made my comments about “The Last Airbender.”

    Suffice it to say that the more I think about it, the more disappointed I am with “The Last Airbender” for not having a better cast.  I’m not suggesting that M. Night Shyamalan had to cast Asians (okay, maybe I kind of am), but it felt awkward to have seen such very white looking characters living among a tribe of a very Asian looking populace – unless they were among more diverse people, the awkwardness didn’t go away (a light-skinned Aang the Airbender living among the diverse Airbenders was actually fine, in comparison; that didn’t feel so awkward).

    I’d be curious to see how a sequel would work, if only in hopes that it’d somehow show improvement.  The stories are there; the cast needs some bulking up.

    And, well, I guess Hollywood has ways to go to put Asians/Asian Americans on the screen (big or little).  Hence, I’ve gotten more into the Asian American Int’l Film Festival, as noted in my July posts.

    I did get a kick out of “Inception” (pun intended; the “kicks” in the movie were entertaining).  Thought-provoking movie with such original plotting, even if it was a little short on deep emotion.  Plus, there was some diversity (Ken Watanabe as Saito!  Dileep Rao as The Chemist!  Asians on Big Screen!) and I still can’t get over how did Joseph Gordon-Levitt end up being so hot?

    I shall have to have a separate post on the movies watched during the summer of 2010 and what I could look forward to for the rest of 2010.

    And, then there’s “Hawaii Five-O” – Asian Americans (or, in Grace Park’s case, Asian Canadian) playing Asian Americans!

    I mostly liked the cast – Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly and Scott Caan as Danno – cool!  Grace Park as the rookie cop (Kono was once a male role) – was also pretty cool (Park’s turning into the go-to person to play roles that used to be male, isn’t she?).

    I agree with Danno: McGarrett is a pain in the ass.  I couldn’t tell if the writers basically gave McGarrett the worst lines or if Alex O’Loughlin’s acting left much to be desired.  Honestly, Alex O’Loughlin’s no Jack Lord.  O’Loughlin’s Steve McGarrett’s a little on the crazy side (apparently, being ex-Navy Seal/naval intelligence and having his dad killed by the ex-Spike (of “Angel”) James Marsters, made McGarrett wacko).

    Plus, the new Hawaii Five-O team (in their first episode, anyway) seems to be about violating civil rights while being preachy about doing right – ex., while arresting the Chinese smuggler – i.e.,  a snakehead – McGarrett goes into a monologue about threatening to send said Chinese snakehead’s wife, a Rwandan, back to Rwanda with their son.  Seriously?  You have that kind of power?

    And, boy, is Hawaii that diverse?  A Chinese man and a Rwandan woman?  Interesting!  Not actually shown on screen, but the reference is appealing.  Plus, even Hawaii-raised McGarrett gets teased for being white by the APA’s of the islands.  Oh well.

    Jean Smart was kind of cool as Hawaii’s super powered governor – so super powered that she gives McGarrett a carte blanche to wipe out the Bad Guys.  Wow.  (ok, that’s a sort-of sarcastic “wow”)…

    Back to my rant: The show enters such ridiculous old-school 1960’s/1970’s punch-’em bad guys level with the disregard of rights, which is… kind of fun, actually, if I really, really think about it (does it even make sense that I have to think about it?  Uh…).

    Okay, so you don’t have to be all NYPD Blue to show the cops v. bad guys.  And, CBS had to recycle that same lot that they used for original Hawaii Five-O and Magnum P.I. (not to mention that Tom Selleck’s about to be back on the air – we are so recycling the 1970’s and 1980’s!).

    James Marsters – not enough of him on Hawaii Five-O!  He was sufficiently evil, by the way, but, he barely had lines.  And, will he ever act with his real American accent?  Hmm.

    And, after all that preaching and lack of civil rights, where were the lawyers?  Surely the Attorney General of Hawaii wouldn’t like what McGarrett’s doing (that Danno’s by-the-book is pretty nifty; he misses his life in NJ – awww).

    Not a perfect series premiere.  So, I do agree with tv critic Alan Sepinwall: “Hawaii Five-O” is not very deep, but it’ll do.  Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker recalled that original Hawaii Five-O wasn’t exactly deep either, but he appreciates that the new series can capture the spirit of fun.

    Got to love that theme song though.  Classic.

    The other new Monday show, “Lone Star,” on FOX, was a strong series premiere.  I couldn’t resist watching it, since the lead actor, James Wolk, is so good looking – drool-worthy, even – and his picture, with his character’s two wives, have been on all the city buses (yes, I’m superficial).  He acted pretty well as the con man Bob Allen, who’s a little angsty but playing his con game as best he can.

    Who is Bob, really, when he is torn between the two loves of his life and thinking he can try out a semi-honest life for once, after learning the art of the con from his dad since his childhood?  Can Bob get away with it?  I doubt it, but he’s going to darn well try.

    I agree with tv critics Alan Sepinwall and James Poniewozik: I’m not sure how will “Lone Star” will last a season.  It feels like the kind of show that would be fine as a movie or a mini-series on PBS or cable.  It was like a throwback to the old 1970’s style of show (say, Robert Wagner’s “It Takes a Thief,” well before my time), or a cross between a WB show (considering the rather entertaining soundtrack and tense family relationships) with a FOX show (sex, scandal, sex, scandal…; but, Bob is supposed to be a nice guy – right?), and a touch of “Friday Night Lights” (not that I ever watched the show, but apparently, the Texas life was portrayed fairly well on “Lone Star” as it was on “Friday Night Lights” and they apparently share producers or something).

    Bob oozed charm; but can he – will he – be redeemed?  We’ll see.

    I did watch the series premiere of “Outlaw” on NBC.  Jimmy Smits plays US Supreme Court Justice Cyrus Garza, who was a conservative justice selected by the alternate universe George W. Bush.  Losing his father in a fatal car accident, Garza flips to the liberal camp and decides to be a practicing lawyer again, giving up the highest court of the land.  Seriously?

    Garza’s switch wasn’t entirely convincing (not necessarily Smits’ fault; I think the writing was weak); apparently, he was already feeling his (more liberal) father’s disappointment in him and his life as a gambling addict was not doing him any good.  If anything, I thought Garza’s gambling problem was interesting; Lawyers Assistance Program could get on tv, maybe?

    Garza’s law clerks are surprised to be practicing with him in the crusade to save people.  I’d sympathize, but the clerks seemed so bland.  Plus, the idea that one of Garza’s clerks would blurt out her love for him, while believing that he would die of a fatal illness (as opposed to, say, getting his legs broken by unsavory types due to his gambling) — that was a “That’s NOT good tv” moment.

    Jimmy Smits – you deserve better than this.  “Outlaw” is not “West Wing” or “L.A. Law.”  I don’t need 9 out of 10 tv critics to know this.

    Also, if you want to see Supreme Court justices on tv, consider the fact that  the last couple of shows that tried to be the fictitious versions of the Supreme Court didn’t do well (ex’s., “The Court” (with Sally Field as a justice) and “First Monday“(with James Garner as a justice)).

    If you really want to watch a Supreme Court Justice, watch a real one who appeared on Charlie Rose’s show, with a great interview, aired last Friday, Sept. 17, 2010, with Justice Stephen Breyer.

    I liked the season premiere of “How I Met Your Mother” – it finally felt like the show is moving forward.  I stopped watching a good chunk of last season because I hated that they backtracked on the Barney and Robin thing, and for a show that originally felt charming and innovative, it started to feel tiresome.

    While not a perfect season premiere episode, there’s some hope that Ted will move forward, and that Barney and Robin might move forward too. Oh, and Marshall and Lily got a little touch of reality, in the wackiness of trying to conceive a baby.

    I more or less agreed with James Poniewozik on the subject: I like HIMYM, and I want to believe in it again.

    I am looking forward to seeing “The Whole Truth” on ABC, which seems to be sort of “Law and Order” but with Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney.  Alan Sepinwall in his review was not exactly impressed, but I do agree: Rob Morrow and Maura Tierney back on tv!  I’ll take a chance on it.

    Plus, returning shows that I will look forward to seeing: “Community” (what will be the fallout of Jeff and Annie kissing each other?  Will Senor Chang stop being such an ass?  The latter seems unlikely…) and “Fringe” (how long will Olivia be stuck in the Other Universe?  how much havoc will Alternate Olivia cause in the main universe?).

    I wish I had BBC America so that I could watch “Law and Order: UK” (coming soon to a BBC America cable package to people other than me).  Think about it: Freema Agyeman (ex-Martha of Doctor Who) as a prosecutor!

    Also, considering how much I’ve watched British tv mysteries, it’d be interesting to see a British police procedural L&O style.

    Of late, I’ve been watching Inspector Lewis on Masterpiece Mystery.  Lewis is hitting a groove (heck, he’s gotten a cat and his daughter’s getting him on the Internet; apparently older people really do need their grown kids to still help them).

    PBS’ editing of the episodes made plot holes glaringly obvious, unfortunately.

    Also, Lewis’ sergeant Hathaway has better be careful; he’s going to become Inspector Morse if he doesn’t get a little happier (N.B.: Morse was Lewis’ old partner; Inspector Morse kept making Sergeant Lewis drink orange juice, as the designated driver, while he himself drank beer and tried to solve cases with his brain).

    Hathaway’s angst – it’s so Morse, even if Hathaway’s too young to succumb like that.  Lewis’ affection for the young man like a son is nice, but I do wonder why he keeps company with the depressed.  Lewis used to be such a happy guy (long before the series killed off his wife, off-screen).

    I’m also looking forward to the upcoming new Sherlock Holmes on Masterpiece Mystery!  Taking place in modern day England, some things don’t change: John Watson, M.D., is still an army guy coming back to England from Afghanistan.  Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes?  Hmm.  Even curiouser – Martin Freeman (who played Arthur on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie) as Watson (who blogs!)?  And, Rupert Graves as a not stupid Inspector Lestrade?  This could be cool.

    J.J. Abrams’ “Undercover” could be interesting for his return to spies on tv.  NY Times’ critic Ginia Bellafante seems to think the series is a little light-weight (blame it on USA Network’s influence, I guess).  I suppose we could all give it credit for having a black couple as the leads (diversity on tv – thumbs up!), but I’ve been exhausted by “Alias” from giving another go with spies on tv.  I might give it a try, just to see if there’s fun in it or not.  I like my shows to have the combination of characters and plots – let’s see if “Undercover” has that.

    Of all things to be mildly entertained by, I’ve actually enjoyed watching “Melissa and Joey” on ABC Family, where Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence do a throwback to the 1980’s type sitcom – in front of a live audience and a la “Who’s the Boss” (sick as it sounds, I practically did watch all the episodes of the Tony-Angela saga of “Who’s the Boss” when I was a kid).

    I feel old though – I grew up with Joey Lawrence (yes, way back on “Gimme a Break” and when he was “Joey” – pre-Joe Lawrence days; even through his “Blossom” days!).

    Last but not least: Time’s Techland has a fun interview with Alex Trebek!

  • July 2010 Continues

    APA’s in the news: I don’t envy the position that US Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, is in; he has a steep learning curve on the oil leak disaster, even if it’s pretty darn good that we do have a Nobel Laureate like him on the matter.

    Speaking of the oil leak disaster, would a Republican President have done any better or worse?  Slate’s Christopher Beam ponders on the subject.  I’m of the view that – considering the complexity and the depth and horror of the situation – it couldn’t be any better or worse under any other Presidency.  But, that’s all very speculative.

    Oh, wow – the return of the Rapping Doctor, Dr. John Clarke (who had his big break last year, with his rap on H1N1 virus), telling us to step over the gap on the subway (yeah, that’s a public service announcement in dire need of reminding, and probably does count as a public health and safety concern). (btw, he’s the rapping doctor who had the video about the H1N1 virus last year; pretty nifty).

    I thought this NY Times article by Randy Kennedy on the restoration of the Thomas Eakins painting, “The Gross Clinic,” fascinating, because it’s about a well-known American painting, by a significant American painter (reminding me of the great American Painting art history course that I had taken back in college); plus the writing on the subject of restoration reminded me of the lectures by an art history professor I had back in college, who really had strong concerns about what it means to “restore” art (granted, Prof. James Beck focused on Italian Renaissance art (see the well-written obit about him in the NY Times awhile back), but the criticism’s sort of transferable and “restoration” can be tricky stuff).

    NY Times’ Linda Greenhouse asks whether Justice Kennedy’s influence – hence a so-called Kennedy Court on the US Supreme Court – is really extant anymore, when it’s becoming clearer that he’s on the right-leaning side of the Court and not exactly that centric after all.

    My Soap Box moment: Bob Herbert, in today’s NY Times’ editorial section, is right – kind of scary to push nuclear power when we kind of suck at trying to get oil, such as it is with the mess in the Gulf of Mexico.   Getting off the Soap Box now.

    A nice Q&A on NPR’s website, with Jesse Tyler Ferguson of the ABC sitcom, “Modern Family” and currently in the city doing the Shakespeare in the Park repertoire of “Merchant of Venice” and “The Winter’s Tale.”  He’s been nominated for an Emmy for “Modern Family” – in which he plays the former child ice skater and now lawyer (sadly funny episode, where he’s trying to land a new job – and there was that episode where he was scared of a pigeon – which I empathize).

    And, let’s end on a positive note: former US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky on the subject of writing poetry for kids.  Thought this was interesting, since I was – coincidentally – recently reading some Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear work – writings for children, yet darkly funny and weird – not what you’d think as mere kids’ stuff.

  • Yet Another Heat Wave 2010

    “Hawaii 5-0” gets a Hawaiian blessing; hopefully, this means that it’ll be a decent show and gets some decent ratings.

    Of the “Facts of Life” cast, I’ve admired Kim Fields for having a prolonged career – that she went on to do “Living Single” by the 1990’s – that’s not a bad deal (I think Nancy McKeon was the other cast member who didn’t do too badly either).  Thought that this was a nice article about Fields, as she proceeds to do more directing and producing in her career, and still act, and not disassociating herself from “Facts of Life” (although, I kind of agree with her – being forever “Tootie” probably gets a little annoying as an adult).

    (oh, and yes, I did see that silly reunion Facts of Life tv movie – nothing impressive, but it was nice to see most of the cast together again, although they acted like the characters played by Cloris Leachman, George Clooney, and Mackenzie Astin didn’t exist, to my vague recollection).

    Asian American International Film Festival 2010!  I saw “Back to the Future” (the compilation of sci-fi/sci-fi-ish/abstract short films) on Friday night.  “Mao’s Last Dancer” at AAIFF was postponed to Sunday; it was its NY debut; see trailer here.

    The thing is – maybe I’m a little more fascinated in seeing more diverse casting and work by APA’s (in front of and behind the screens) – possibly since I’m still a little bewildered by “The Last Airbender” by M. Night Shyamalan (and yeah, I still haven’t posted my full comments on that subject).

    NY Times’ Sunday Routine: Q & A with NY Philharmonic’s Alan Gilbert (who spends his Sunday in a very NY way, he  being a native NYer; he’s also half-Japanese, lest anyone thinks this is somehow completely un-Triscribe-relevant).

    Summer tv:

    The return of “Mad Men” on AMC.  I’m so behind this particular series, but it’s visually gripping – the style!

    “Royal Pains” – Dr. Hank’s dad actually helped Hank this past episode, as Hank rescued the rich teenagers of the Hamptons from their hijinks and their medical problems.  I still can’t get over seeing Henry Winkler as the father of brothers Hank and Evan – “Fonzie” as his slippery best.  Plus, Divya, the physician’s assistant, might actually be smarter than either Hank or Evan.  Thumbs up for this past episode.

    Let’s deal with the latest heat wave in the city; may I never complain about snowstorms again.

  • Stuff!

    Explanations for the World Cup teams’ nicknames.

    Still too bad about Team USA, but they did as well as they could with their World Cup showing.

    Do your votes on Facebook, on the Chase Community Giving!

    Coming soon: Asian American International Film Festival 2010!

    Commentary coming soon: I did see the “The Last Airbender” movie last weekend, the opening weekend.  I’ll post some thoughts about it later, but I’ll note for the moment that Angry Asian Man’s blog has some interesting links on the subject of the movie’s casting, including a link to Dante Bosco’s thoughts (Bosco being the original voice actor for the character of Prince Zuko in the Nickelodeon cartoon: “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”).  Bottom line, to me anyway, is that it’s just tough for Asian Americans in the arts scene.

    Summer tv – well, it could be better…

    I barely watched the second season of  “Merlin” on Syfy, but finally got to watch the season finale – that was rather entertaining.  Not sure how deep into the Arthurian mythos the series plan to go into, but this variation of a young Merlin helping young Arthur and how they both got to grow up and one day be the heroes we know and love – it’s nice to watch a friendship grow on tv.  As for other items about the series’ take on the Arthurian stuff:

    Arthur and Guinevere are still working on the romance department; it’s nice to think that there’s a version where Guinevere has a personality and the romance between the future rulers of Camelot gets to develop and not just destined (as for Guinevere’s future adultery with Lancelot, Arthur’s best knight and friend – well, maybe we don’t have to see that happen on tv – although, there’s an argument to be made that Arthur is a lot more aware and perhaps forgiving or understanding than would be assumed?  Consider, for instance, the variation by the webcomic, Arthur, King of Time and Space – where Arthur in the contemporary and space arcs seems to have reluctance about giving up his best friend and his wife).

    Actually, Arthur’s really got to figure out that magic might be his friend and that things are a mess because of his father, Uther (played by Anthony Head, the ex-Giles of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series, the creepy villain of a Doctor Who episode, and the unforgettable Taster’s Choice coffee commercial guy).  And, let’s just say that Uther’s intolerance toward magic and his secrets from Arthur are going to mess him up in the future.  (Uther’s creepiness was there in the old stories, so I’m just amazed that they kept him alive in the tv series to show the creepiness after all).

    Morgana’s at least not Arthur’s half-sister this time, so actual incest isn’t there; but the whole evolution of “she’s going to betray you” is still good tv.

    Maybe I’ll catch up on the “Merlin” episodes that I missed, someday.

    Season 2 of “Warehouse 13” on SyFy- season premiere was pretty entertaining.  My only question is: just how big is the warehouse?

    The return of PBS’ “History Detectives.”  Some good stuff.

  • Weekend!

    A-Team and The Karate Kid!  Oh My God – it’s the return of the 1980’s, in a revised kind of way.

    I got to see The A-Team movie; nothing perfect, but if you liked the old tv series, this was a fun.   Plot made no sense; but what was there was an origins story of how my generation’s favorite tv soldiers of fortune got together to be the gang that we know and love.

    Oh, and putting aside the excessive CGI and explosions (yeah, I know – explosions in anything related to A-Team) – but the cast was pretty good – Liam Neeson! Bradley Cooper! And, the guys playing the B.A. and Murdoch roles!

    See also: Steven James Snyder’s review on Time Magazine’s Techland; and even Richard Corliss’ review (Corliss being the official Time movie critic); review by EW’s Owen Glieberman; and Dana Stevens on Slate.  Roger Ebert really didn’t care for it – which I understand and empathize, but I seriously don’t go into watching the movie on the A-Team to hope that I’d get “Hurt Locker” (seriously – no.).

    The Smurfs movie is in progress.   Actor Hank Azaria as Gargamel – there was a picture floating in one of the entertainment magazines catching him in the city in his Gargamel costume.  But, Neil Patrick Harris as Johan?  Oh My God!

    Speaking of the 1980’s, the man behind “Voltron,” Peter Keefe, passed away.  The 1980’s as a decade keeps coming back.

    World Cup time; Slate has a good explanation for why North Americans call the sport “soccer” while the rest of the world calls it “football.”

    Pretty entertained by the US v. England World Cup game: ending on a 1-1 tie.  It seemed festive in South Africa, and even stateside (in the city, anyway).  Not sure how they took it in England, but oh well.

    I do thank the Angry Asian Man blog for posting a very hot photo of the Japanese team – these fit men in suits – so hot.

    Oh, a funny yet hot look at David Beckham’s reactions to the US v. England tie – the pictures were funny indeed (including a photoshopped look at the Obama White House laughing at Beckham.  Oops!).

    What’s with soccer athletes looking so good?

    Finished reading Bonnie Tsui‘s book “American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods,” where she examines the contexts for the Chinatowns of San Francisco; NYC; Honolulu; Los Angeles; and Las Vegas.   Smooth read; especially fascinated about the Chinatowns I knew least (Honolulu and Las Vegas).  The rest could have been more original – but then again, the book might be more for an audience who need to be more aware about Chinatowns.

  • Monday into Tuesday

    Kudos:  US District Ct., North District of California – the trial court of the federal system – finally has an Asian American federal judge (the first in its 160 year history, according to the NAPABA press release); Judge Lucy Koh has been confirmed.  She will be the only current Korean American federal judge in the country and second in American history.

    Considering northern California’s place in APA legal history, this news on Judge Koh is big and good stuff.  Amazing how Pres. Obama has increased the number of APA federal judges (and hopefully the Senate will stay productive).  See also the post on the subject on Angry Asian Man blog.

    Also, from Angry Asian Man: an Indian American wins the National Spelling Bee.  He also points to this fascinating article on Slate on why have Indians done so well in the spelling bee: basically, they’re just really, really into it – community support can go a long way, that’s for sure.

    A Chinese American family fighting in Surrogate’s Court: as the family of C.C. Wang argue over the artwork that he had collected; talk about the messiness of family feuds and property issues.

    Okay, so I’m actually getting excited that the A-Team movie is coming (although ,I’m hoping it will be a fun movie and not completely crappy; I mean – come on, it’s the A-Team!).

    Strangely, besides A-Team, more of my ’80’s youth is coming back, since: via Time Magazine’s Techland – news that Voltron will be back on tv (what?  seriously?) and someone really is doing a Thundercats movie (what?  seriously?).  (well, there is a CGI animation version.  Really.  And, it seemed that Keith and Princess Allura admitted their attraction to one another.  I think.).

    Although, I’ve said it before: if they bring back My Little Pony and the Care Bears, or the Snorks – then it really is the end of the world, if not civilization.  (and I wonder if we’re pretty close to that as it is half the time, considering the political vitriol and Icelandic volcano and gushing oil leaks and financial jobless recovery/prolonged recession).

    On the other hand, I am sort of in the hunt for the summer tv thing, sort of.  Over on David Bianculli’s TV Worth Watching, contributing critic Diane Holloway reminds people of the return of “Burn Notice” and “Mad Men,” and she seems to like “The Good Guys” (the one where Bradley Whitford – the ex-Josh of “West Wing” – has a ridiculous mustache and Colin Hanks is his partner in fighting crime).

    I can’t get myself to watch “The Good Guys,” because… it’s Bradley Whitford with a ridiculous mustache.  I can be very superficial, I know.  Maybe I’ll watch it eventually, since I like the two actors (or their previous work on other stuff) and want them to have a shot at TV glory.

    I think I’ll give “Lie to Me” another shot; Tim Roth is strong (at least he’s a Brit playing a Brit, as opposed to Hugh Laurie’s (still masterful) task as House; I can only put up so much of the (kind of weird and fascinating) trend of Brits/Australians playing Americans).  I watched a little of the repeated season finale of last season and a re-airing of the pilot episode.  The concept of the show is pretty nifty; the characters — well, I like to care about the characters.  I don’t think I’m there yet with “Lie to Me.”

    And, I’d like to get another try of “Royal Pains” – the idea of the ex-Fonzie as dad to Dr. Hank is kind of … weird.  Otherwise, I would like to finally get on the bandwagon on “Burn Notice” and “Mad Men,” but I’m so not consistent with the cable tv offerings.  Someday.

    Let’s see if this week can be a bit more positive; hope springs eternal.

  • June Continues

    World Science Festival in the city; some good stuff.

    So, along with wacky service problems on weekends (shuttle bus, anyone?), MTA’s going to be issuing a new map (probably to reflect the end of some subway lines and other things). It’s supposed to look sleeker.  Hmm.  We’ll see how good it’ll be.

    But, it’s a pain in the neck over the weekend, when subway lines aren’t going between Brooklyn and Manhattan and buses all clumped up.

    Coming up, on 6/12/10: Save NYC Libraries.

    Here’s a link to a trailer of the new “Hawaii Five-O,” coming this fall on CBS.  I’m getting more into the new Hawaii Five-O than I expected, based on the trailers alone, which look good. They seem to fit in this era of “Can we please have a more diverse tv cast” and “are we losing Miranda rights?” — plus, Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park, even Scott Caan! (oh, and Alex O’Loughlin, who is in need of a… show that doesn’t get canceled; but, he’s no Jack Lord though as “Steve McGarrett” (and I never really watched the original Hawaii Five-O).

    I posted the trailer on Facebook, and FC noted that there’s one continuity blooper – at 1:02, one of the cops is holding his badge upside down, and at 1:03 his badge is right side up.  Clearly, they’re still working on the show (well, tv is tv).

    But, I’m not sure what does it mean if I’m not really into much fall tv as it is.  Hmm.

    Via Angry Asian Man blog: by Jeff Yang, on the SF Gate, “The Book of Daniel,” profiling Daniel Dae Kim.  Good stuff to read.

    Apparently, “Heroes” wants one more shot to say goodbye (from Time’s Techland, of the TVGuide.com posting). — seriously, no.  I gave up when they had unceremoniously killed off the Adrian Pasdar character Nathan.  I’m not getting on board just to see more mess and say goodbye.  “Lost” earned a goodbye, because they cared about their characters; “Heroes” did not, because they didn’t care about their characters (or stopped doing so).

    On the other hand, I’ll still give “Heroes” credit for its diverse cast.  Sure.  But, it didn’t do more appropriate stuff with the characters.

    Shakespeare in the City: check it out the list on WNYC and Wall Street Journal’s review on New York Classical Theatre’s scheduled “Richard III” at Central Park (yes, roving Shakespeare).

    Lawyers as writers – Scott Turow was on Charlie Rose a couple  of weeks ago about his  newest book.  John Grisham was on NPR’s All Things Considered, about his own legal thriller for kids (seriously; I’m not entirely sure how it works either, but it sounded intriguing).  I’m impressed that these two pioneers in legal thrillers are still at it.

    Linda Greenhouse on J. Souter’s commencement speech at Harvard and her observation that he hasn’t completely disappeared.  Good for him!

    The passing of John Wooden, UCLA’s legendary men’s basketball coach.

  • June 2010 Begins

    Well, Memorial Day came and went.

    FC, my sister, and I checked out the Vilcek Foundation‘s exhibit of “Lost” props and photos.  Mr. Cluck!  Dharma van!  Dharma beer!

    My sister and I then checked out Asia Society’s museum (exhibits on “Pilgrimage and Buddhist Art” and “Inspired by India: Works by NYC Students“) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (“Picasso in the Metropolitan Museum of Art“; “American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity”; and “Tutankhamun’s Funeral“).

    The end of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, but really for us at Triscribe, APA Heritage stuff is every day.  But, some items of interest:

    Great stuff at the AABANY/SABANY/KALAGNY event: “Blazing a Trail in the Law.”

    Angry Asian Man showed a clip of this funny and poignant comment from Ben Kingsley to the ladies of “The View,” about how he was with a terrible dinner guest – a German woman who (1) asked if he was Jewish, and (2) said it was “worse” when he said he was half-English and half-Indian.  His outrage was on point, although I wonder if this incident had occurred before he was on “Gandhi” or “Schindler’s List.”  (or maybe it did occur afterward!  What a terrible dinner party that must have been).

    NY Times covering the Bon Chon v. Kyochon trend; fried chicken will never be the same, now is it?

    Time’s Techland (the geek/nerd/etc. coverage) post by Evan Narcisse, on a Memorial Day special – honoring Asian/APA comic book heroes (the Atom; Jubilee; the ex-Batgirl Cassandra Cain – I had to smile over those, even though, yeah, I think Asian/APA comic book heroes have gotten a little shafted.  Just a little).

    Last but not least to note: Qing Hong Wu is now an American citizen, thanks to Governor Paterson’s pardon; there are second chances and redemption is possible.

    But, life – yeah, it’s complicated.