Triscribe

Category: Brooklyn

  • Don’t Back Down

    After it occurred on the night of Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, the tragic Las Vegas shooting causes us as Americans to share our thoughts and prayers, at a time when we have thoughts and prayers for the natural disasters, and our sad state of political affairs and racial divide – at a time when we wonder where are and what are our moral values.

    How strange that we look to our late night tv show hosts for hope and inspiration, and articulation of substance. Stephen Colbert’s right – no one will knock thoughts and prayers. But “Think about what you need to do, and then pray for the courage to do it.” – Stephen Colbert. Pray for the will to do more indeed.

    Meanwhile, the passing of Tom Petty has been confirmed. This one also came to my mind – the moment during the 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, when Tom Petty and just about everyone did “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” for George Harrison. Of course, that Prince solo – that was just amazing. I’ll embed the video below. Notably, here at triscribe, FC had shared the link to that same video as the soundtrack of the day when Prince had passed away last year. I like to think that Tom Petty is joining Prince and a whole bunch of other musicians – George Harrison and John Lennon, and all of the caboodle – in making sweet music.

     

    I suppose we all have our favorite song from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I remembered listening to “I Won’t Back Down” (okay, and “Free Fallin’“) a lot back in college, which arguably was the last time that I really listened to music (I’m not much of a music person as it is). “I Won’t Back Down,” wasn’t even a song from the 1990s, but it got me in a mood. Actually, come to think of it, a lot of music from Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers got me into moods. I was reminded that the song even got a lot of play back around the time of Sept. 11, 2001, when we probably needed it.

    I hope Petty got to know that his music did/does something for us, especially on a day of horror in Las Vegas – don’t back down, people. Don’t give up and do something right.

  • Taking a Moment to Pause and Reflect 2017

    Try to remember the kind of September

    When life was slow and oh, so mellow.

    Try to remember the kind of September

    When grass was green and grain was yellow.

    -“Try to Remember,” from The Fantasticks.

    Earlier tonight, I walked over to the Brooklyn Promenade after work, to make sure to see the Tribute in Light. I feel sadness, and I reflect where we were then, and where we are now. I wonder.

    Here’s a link to Gothamist’s post today on the Tribute in Light. Gothamist also posted images of the Oculus’ retractable roof opening at 8:46am, and allowing a beam of light at 10:28am, on September 11, 2017.

    Above that photo I had taken some years ago at the Brooklyn Promenade.
    I had also taken this photo a couple of years ago at the Brooklyn Promenade.
    I took this one on Sept. 10, 2012, via my old phone.
    Photo that I took on Sept. 10, 2012, via my old phone.

    Also, please do check out the previous post of 2016, to access the links to earlier posts here on triscribe on this day.

    — ssw15

    (cross-posted at sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com)

  • Happy Independence Day 2017!

    Happy 241st Birthday, America.

    Bear in mind: “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” and in the end, when the Founding Fathers declared at the end of the document: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” They were about to do something dangerous, and they knew it. The experiment continues, 241 years later. It hasn’t been easy, but don’t give up.

    And, so NPR did its annual reading of the Declaration of Independence. Yes, it was the Founding Fathers’ airing of grievances against the King of England, but it was more than that – it was about creating a nation – imperfect, but paving a way for revolution.

    Amid the celebrations, take a moment to reflect on the meaning of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and don’t forget that the Constitution does say we’re “to form a more perfect union.” I was listening to Brian Lehrer’s show on WNYC the other day and he made an interesting point about America’s birthday: like any birthday, acknowledge it, warts and all, and hope (and work) for better. (btw, I’ll link to the Brian Lehrer show segment – it was interesting to hear listeners call in to say how they felt about being American).

    Lots of cool things happened on 7/4. Weirdly: both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4.

    July 4, 1827 is also Emancipation Day for NYS, as the day that slavery was finally abolished in NYS.

    July 4, 2017, is also the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal, which transformed NYS and NYC (see here for a WNYC item on this).

    July 4, 2017, is also the 20th anniversary since Pathfinder made it to Mars.

    Well, at least I’m trying to be on the bright side on this holiday.  You should too!

  • Memorial Day 2017

    On Memorial Day: be sure to take a moment to reflect on those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice for us and our values.

    And, to those who observe: best wishes for Ramadan.

    I think that Memorial Day and APA Heritage Month make for an interesting combination.  It’s more than enjoying the unofficial start of summer, but to reflect and consider people who don’t always get remembered.

    Consider: NBC News Asian America has an interesting article by Lakshmi Gandhi, profiling Hazel Ying Lee, “Remembering Hazel Lee , the first Chinese-American Female Military Pilot.” She was one of two Asian-American women who were WASPs, when WASPs weren’t necessarily considered part of the military, and when civilians wondered if Chinese people were the Japanese enemy.

    Or consider this NPR item, which aired on “All Things Considered”: “Don’t Say ‘Thank You for Your Service’ This Monday,” as we recognize that those who served are part of the diverse fabric of American life – and they do what they believe in, not to be thanked, and because we should remember their friends who didn’t get to come home.

    I also tend to think that Americans have lost sight of the meaning of both Memorial Day and Veterans Day (aka Armistice Day, aka the day that World War I ended). While you should enjoy the day, it’s not as simple as saying “Have a Happy One,” when there ought to be more reflection or service involved.

    (and as for how we treat those who served, served, and survived – well, that’s another issue, but it’d be nice if we can do better for them; like the article says, saying thanks is nice, but it’s not an end in and of itself).

    And, bearing in mind that Memorial Day was once Decoration Day, it’s also about tending to the tombs and paying respect.  I liked this item over at NPR, about a man’s project to clean the headstones of World War I veterans.

    “Perhaps not imagining a face of an individual is a product of the military culture, one that simply relied on trusting the members of your team, regardless of where they came for or what they looked like. And perhaps seeing the green, blue, white, tan, or khaki uniform is all I really needed to know because people of all races, creeds, color, and religions have fought for our country.” — Art delaCruz.

    delaCruz’s moving essay over at NBC News Asian America is worth a read. In our current charged political climate (then again, when is it not charged?), perhaps it’s more important than ever to reflect on the diversity and commonality of our armed forces and how that represents all of us.  A lot of food for thought.

  • April Begins!

    I saw the Final Four on April 1- well, the 2nd half Game 1 (Gonzaga vs. South Carolina), and the bulk of Game 2 (North Carolina vs. Oregon). I had picked Gonzaga and North Carolina as part of the Final Four, but had also picked Villanova to repeat over North Carolina, so… yeah, busted brackets, as usual, but some good games.  I have a soft spot for Gonzaga, but North Carolina’s on a roll to make up for last year, so we shall see who will win the championship between Gonzaga vs. North Carolina on Monday, April 3.

    I forget that the NCAA tournament would have quite a bunch of commercials – it’s a definitely a different vibe than the Super Bowl or Oscars. In other words: I don’t know whether I’ll watch the Wonder Woman movie or Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” movie or buy Amazon’s Alexa, but the seeds are planted in my mind. Thanks, commercialism!

    I will have to do a full post, but am I glad that FX renewed “Legion.”  The season finale – the tv series overall – a roller coaster of emotion, sound (or in one episode, the lack of sound), and sight.  What will happen next to David Haller, the mutant who has some problems that the rest of us ought to be glad to not have…?

    Otherwise, I’m so behind on everything. Oh, and baseball is back.  I need the distraction anyway…

     

  • APA Stuff to Consider, or Spring 2017 Begins

    There is still snow on the ground, even though it is melting.

    Worthwhile items about Chinese Americans over at NPR, from last week: gentrification of Chinatowns.  When an immigrant community’s next generation assimilates or moves on, or there are changes in the types of jobs available, a community will change. But, gentrification in terms of race and class – that’s not exactly comfortable stuff.

    The story of the Delta Chinese, as fascinatingly portrayed on NPR, is sort of a contrast to the gentrification of Chinatown. It isn’t quite about displacement by class and race, but the evolution of immigration and society is something to remember and reflect on. (btw – definitely worth reading this NPR item, along with the other NPR item on gentrification of Chinatowns).

    The NPR item on gentrification of Chinatowns, notably, quoted Peter Kwong, Hunter College professor, and Asian American studies pioneer, who observed that New York City’s Chinatowns may be the last stand of a working class, viable Chinatown.  Sadly, Kwong passed away last Friday, as announced in the news.  (h/t Asian American Writers’ Workshop‘s Facebook page post).  Things to think about, as we consider the history of Chinese in America, and how do we go forward.

     

  • TV Observations

    From March 10: Happy 20th tv series premiere anniversary, Buffy. You saved the world a lot. (ok, I’m paraphrasing the line from one of the season finales – the third or fourth one? The one of many where Buffy sacrifices herself? The tone was just the right tone).

    Thank you, Joss Whedon, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and the rest of the Scooby team of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

    I realized that it was the 20th anniversary when A.V Club featured their Buffy Week special. Check it out. A lot of good stuff.

    And, goodness, I’m old. I can’t believe that it’s been 20 years?

    Entertainment Weekly posted on Sarah Michelle Gellar’s thanks via Twitter, to the fandom for their support.

    Vox ranked the episodes of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

    Constance Grady over at Vox wrote on the subversiveness of Buffy’s feminism. I thought it was interesting how Grady noted that Buffy, the very feminine ex-cheerleader, was very much the beholder of what was the traditional masculine protagonist’s burden of saving the world. And, if I remembered one of the key Slayer mythos episodes correctly, as the slayer, she shook off being chained to the male Watchers (while acknowledging the familial bonds to at least Giles, the senior Scooby member).

    David Sims over at The Atlantic wrote on how Buffy, the tv series, was the pioneer of the current Golden Age of tv storytelling – that whole balance of serialization and Monster Of The Week stuff was because of Buffy (in fact, I think “Monster Of The Week” was because of Buffy the tv series, either because tv critics or fans referenced to that, or the producers themselves acknowledged that).  I thought that this article was a fascinating look at television history, anyway.

    Here’s where I talked about the series finale of Buffy, through the lenses of an episode of “Angel” (which, yes, if you watched the Buffy series, you should watch “Angel.”).

    Speaking of television, lately, it seems like I watch just two shows: “Elementary” (oh, the craziness that constitutes the adventures of Holmes and Watson) and “Legion.”  I’ll have to post separately on “Legion,” but talk about odd storytelling.  It’s tied to the X-Men, but I’m still not sure how or when, if ever, that this will be shown or told.  It’s just been strangely compelling to watch, for me, anyway.

    Over at Startrek.com: an interesting post by Timothy Harvie, a philosophy and ethics professor, on the importance of friendship in Star Trek. (I really do not read items that reference Aristotle. Not since college, anyway, and the reference in there to Aristotle – weirdly interesting). Come to think of it, the old ST episodes of McCoy and Spock being ridiculously nasty to each other (strange how I don’t realize how ridiculous they were until I really pay attention) is such a big difference from how they become in the movies – when Spock sacrifices himself for McCoy, McCoy carries Spock’s soul, and Kirk keeps trying to balance them – the evolution of friendship is real.

    Actually, one of the biggest morals of ST is how friendship is the biggest and best thing of all (because the things we do for our friends…).

    To be even broader: television tends to show how friends become family – how or ties to each other may help rather than hurt us.  Well, good dramatized fictional tv, anyway.  (I do not have an analysis for what we’re supposed to derive from so-called reality television).  Ultimately, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and its spinoff, “Angel,” showed how friends working together overcome challenges, whether it was getting through high school, growing up, and maybe saving the world.  The universe of Buffy, much like Star Trek, ends up impacting the fandom – and hopefully has brought people together.

    See? Television isn’t all that bad.

     

  • OMG! OSCARS!

    Mind blown. This was real, live, what the hell tv. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway did what?! This is crazy! (and if you do not know what I’m talking about, go online, go read/watch/whatever – the Best Picture category has made for some ridiculous historical tv!).  I was giggling like an idiot, watching what was happening.  Sorry to Jimmy Kimmel – it was a decent hosting gig, and ABC as a network was dealing with the length of the broadcast (as usual), and the end – we will be talking about that end for awhile!

    (cross-posted with sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com).

  • The Post-Inauguration Weekend 2017

    Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for our country. – John F. Kennedy.

    Thank you to Barack Obama for your service and your efforts. Thank you to Michelle Obama, and to Joe Biden and to Jill Biden.

    For the sake of the country, I hope for the best.

    Friday, January 20, 2017 – Donald Trump, the president-elect who had lost the popular vote, officially became president. He’s hardly comparable to Kennedy, at least for the moment, anyway (at minimum: JFK served the country before he became president – serving in war and in the Senate; Trump was a private sector person his entire career, and avoided the Vietnam War, the war of his generation).

    There have been other presidents from the City of New York and the state of New York, but I would not compare the new president to Theodore or Franklin D. Roosevelt. The new president isn’t even comparable to former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, a former New York Governor who was a wealthy liberal or progressive Republican (the old-fashioned kind, who switched back and forth between the public and private sectors) and one who was a major philanthropist.

    I had nostalgia for 2009,  the days when Obama came in and there was so much hope.  I have to keep hoping; is it so wrong?

    I watched the inaugural speech by the new president, making myself do it as a student/witness of history.  I can’t say that I liked it at all.  There were words, but devoid of real hope or – to me – sincerity.  Slate’s Jamelle Bouie noted that by saying “America First,” the new president was really identifying what he thinks is “American” and some kind of domination by that kind of America.

    Slate’s Will Saletan noted about the inaugural speech: “On Friday, a morally empty man gave a morally empty speech. There was no talk of humility, no acknowledgment of enduring prejudice, no plea for decency.”  Saletan wouldn’t compare Trump to the last Republican president, George W. Bush, stating, “This is why Trump is unworthy of your respect. It’s not because he didn’t win the popular vote. It’s not because of his party or his policies. It’s not because of Russia. It’s because of who he is. For all his faults, even those that turned out to be disastrous, Bush was a decent man. He believed in something greater than himself. Trump doesn’t.”

    I thought that this article by Paul Waldman in the Washington Post, “A Liberal’s to Conservatives on the Occasion of Trump’s Inauguration,” was a worthwhile read.  Waldman, identifying as a liberal who received conservatives’ letters  of “You lost; shut up,” has the following response:

    Please, don’t tell us liberals that when we criticize Trump we’re doing terrible damage to the convivial spirit that would otherwise prevail were we not so rude. We’ve heard that baloney before, and it’s pretty rich coming from people who spent the last eight years saying that Barack Obama was a foreign socialist tyrant carrying out a secret plan to destroy America.

    So spare us your hypocritical talk of unity, because your champion sure doesn’t believe it. We’ve seen it clearly since the election: once he goes off his teleprompter, we get not even the pretense of unity from Donald Trump. Quite the contrary; he communicates again and again that he has nothing but contempt for those who don’t pay him proper tribute. [….]

    You don’t like it when we get angry? Deal with it. We’re angry now, and we’ll stay angry. We’ll be angry when this president and this Congress try to take health coverage from tens of millions and health security from hundreds of millions. We’ll be angry when they try to cut off women’s access to health care, and cut taxes for the wealthy, and slash the safety net. We’ll be angry when they gut environmental regulations, and promote discrimination, and attack voting rights, and remove restraints on Wall Street misbehavior.

    I know many liberals who believe this is the end of America as we know it, that Trump is such an authoritarian and so imbalanced that the damage he will inflict on our nation and our world will be impossible to undo. People speak of an unprecedented era of corruption, of a withering attack on all the institutions of democracy, even of a nuclear war brought on by Trump’s unique combination of ignorance and impulsiveness.

    I try not to be quite so pessimistic, to keep my fear in check. But only time will tell. And if these next years turn out the way we fear, understand this: We will never allow you to forget what you have countenanced and joined with. The stain of 2016 and everything that is about to follow is on you. You fell behind this man and assented to everything he is. Your hands will never be clean.

    And we will fight. We may not win most of the time — with control of the White House and Congress, there is a great deal Republicans will be able to do no matter how much the Democrats or the public object. But we will fight, precisely because we love our country and care about its future. We liberals know well that you like to think that you alone are the “real” Americans and you alone have the country’s true interests at heart. But we stopped submitting to that calumny some time ago.

    So I say to my conservative friends: You want liberals to pipe down and get behind our new president? Too damn bad.

    I liked Waldman’s points, and I agree.  Honestly, I’m all for unity and consensus, but bottom line is that I don’t care for the language of “you lost, shut up, get over it.” That’s not saying “let’s come together” or “we disagree, but we’re still one country”; that’s shutting down dialog and asserting domination. Disagreement from the party that lost – that’s about loyal dissent – the right to speak up when it sure doesn’t look right. The opposition to the new administration will still need to figure out how to be opposition, but the party that one should not expect easy deference. I have empathy and acknowledgment of others; it’d be nice if they do the same for me.

    And, “loyal opposition” is defined as the following, according to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary: “a minority party especially in a legislative body whose opposition to the party in power is constructive, responsible, and bounded by loyalty to fundamental interests and principles.” It’s not exactly an idea that’s well-thought of in this country, because it’s more of a British/Commonwealth parliamentary idea.  According to Wikipedia (granted, not the best of resources, but close enough for my purposes), loyal opposition is:

    intended to illustrate that Members of Parliament in a country’s legislature may oppose the policies of the incumbent government—typically comprising parliamentarians from the party with the most seats in the elected legislative chamber—while maintaining deference to the higher authority of the state and the larger framework within which democracy operates. The concept thus permits the dissent necessary for a functioning democracy without fear of being accused of treason.

    I think that we need to appreciate “loyal opposition” – this is not about people whose patriotism or intentions should be questioned; it’s about people whose views are to be heard and considered, even if we disagree.  It’s tough for everyone to be kind to each other, when things are tough. But, a little respect or empathy or acknowledgement of each other could go a long way.  See here for NPR’s Scott Simon’s asking for Americans to find respect of each other – and if the new president could make that possible.  It’s a lot to ask, but it’s nice to hope for this.

    Greg Popovich, head coach of the San Antonio Spurs (and former intelligence officer of the US military, said, on Saturday, January 21, 2017, “I just wish [the new president] was more … had the ability to be mature enough to do something that really is inclusive, rather than just talking and saying, ‘I’m going to include everyone.’”

    Inclusion. Unity. Optimism. Hope – it sounds a little crazy, but “hope” is a word that says a lot.  On Saturday, January 21, 2017, I saw hope when I watched on the news, including on Gothamist, or through Facebook the Women’s Marches all over the world and in New York City – and Washington DC. Here’s a link to the NY Times’ coverage, including what was going on in New York City, on what happens next.

    See here for more photos of the march in New York City from Gothamist.

    See here from NPR on the story of the pussyhats. I remembered catching a story about women making the pussyhats on tv. It was really nice to see such positive spirit over a word that might not have been that comfortable a word to employ… language being what it is (and no thanks to a new president, that is). Regarding the marches, NPR also had photos from DC and the world.

    Slate has some photos on the great signs from the marches.

    I might be a little overboard with my attempt at resistance by referring to Trump as “president-elect” or “the new president” – but I guess that I’ve been trying to process what has been going on in American politics, and triscribe.com will bear the brunt of this (let alone Facebook).  I’ll go back to my usual pop culture/whatever stuff soon enough, and go back to trying to keep away from politics. But, hope is where we can find it.  Keep hope alive.

     

  • Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah 2016

    Happy Holidays to everyone!

    Some positive stories to share, because we need positive stuff and hope at this time.

    From NPR’s Goats and Soda blog, on stories on global health and development: An Ebola vaccine that might be safe and effective? That’s really good news! Hope this does work out well!

    Also from Goats and Soda: 9 Feel-Good Stories from 2016.

    An interesting profile on the new Cardinal of the Newark Archdiocese, in the NY Times.  The new Cardinal Tobin sounds humble and compassionate; here’s hoping that this will bring new hope to Newark.

    At NPR: A Christmas story, indeed: a London restaurant to serve the elderly and homeless for free on Christmas, so that no one has to be alone on Christmas.

    If it’s on PBS, it must be true: there’s a grain of truth to the idea that reindeers’ noses glow red (from Nature, on PBS, via tumblr).  Even if it’s not all true, it’s still nice to imagine, even if in infrared.

    A NY Times article on the (crazy) lights of Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. I haven’t checked them out in years (at some point, they got very over the top and concocted for me, and anyway, I don’t hang out in Dyker Heights), but I’m sometimes amazed by how people make this into a tourist thing now.  Anyway, Gothamist had photos of what they thought were the best of the Dyker Heights lights for this year.

    According to Gothamist: New York Public Library is putting on display its copy of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which he annotated and used for his public readings.  The exhibit, “A Writer’s Christmas: Dickens and More,” is going on until January 8, 2017, at the Stephen A. Shwarzman Building.

    About two weeks ago, I saw “The Hard Nut” at Brooklyn Academy of Music.  It got me in the right holiday mood, I have to say. I never quite get my (entirely secular) Christmas unless I get a Nutcracker fix.  Here is a video of the BAM TV spot from last year:

    NY Times dance critic Alistair Macauley analyzes one of the party dance scenes of “The Hard Nut” in the NY Times earlier this month.

    I’m pretty sure that I shared this on Triscribe; I know that I shared this on Facebook, but I’m too lazy to check. Anyway, here it is again:

    I’m a sucker for a capella, but this is just great: over at NPR, presenting the Maccabeats’ parody mashup of “Hamilton,” with the Hanukkah story. A bad king (or some kind of oppressor); war; and history. Toss in a miracle. Serve. (the Maccabeats were/are a Yeshiva University group – their other Hanukkah video from last year is also pretty good too).

    I apparently shared this previously on Facebook, but I can’t locate it (and I’m too lazy). The Maccabeats’ other memorable Hanukkah video, from 2012. (the NPR segment about here).

    Oh, and a parody “Hamidolph” – Rudolph meets Hamilton, in a cappella by Eclipse 6.

    The link to my post from last year on triscribe.

    And this 2014 post included links to prior Christmas posts on triscribe.

    Eventually, there’s the usual wall-to-wall Christmas NBA basketball on tv, and the return of Doctor Who, who might not have such an emotionally embroiled Christmas this time?  (the last two Christmas specials were heartrending – reminding of us of time running on us, but still giving us hope).

    Happy holidays! Stay tuned for possibly another post as a year end thing.