Triscribe

Category: Brooklyn

  • Post-Inaugural Stuff

    President Obama and Ch. J. Roberts re-did the oath of office, just to be on the safe side. More description in the Washington Post.

    Arguably, maybe one could blame Ch. J. Roberts’ flub to the Curse of the Split Infinitive and how grammatical people try to correct what they (instinctively) think is not grammatically correct (after all, where would you stick “faithfully” in the oath? beginning or the end of the sentence? split the infinitive? well, it was written back when they didn’t care as much about grammar or punctuation).

    So, there are presidents who re-did the oath of office. It’s really no big deal!

    Uh, so they had to resort to using some pre-recording to support Yo-Yo Ma and Itzak Perlman and their colleagues during the inauguration. I’m not surprised and I’d forgive them; it was really cold and even on the news later on, Perlman was all, “My fingers were frozen…” (paraphrased) – better to make things smooth than not (when there were enough troubles for the inauguration).

    Fascinating story by NY Times’ Jodi Kantor about Obama’s multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-religious extended family – a modern American thing, really.

    Plus, Obama not only brought out the sea of humanity onto D.C., he continued to save tv by bringing out ratings, lots of ratings.

    Interesting story about the state of the ethnic newspapers of NYC.

    Oh, and “Lost” is back, and no less crazier than ever. Priceless line (in the delivery anyway), by the ageless (or time traveling?) Richard to John Locke: “It’s a compass… it points north, John.”

  • A new kind of superhero

    I have heard much talk about superheroes this past week. I tried to get a copy of the Obama Spider-Man comic book last week, mostly because my wife asked me to find a copy. I was relegated to pre-ordering the second printing that should arrive this week.

    But Obama is not Spidey – there were thousands of people who were true-believers in his message of hope, yet would not believe that the dream had become real until the last words of the oath were taken (slightly late, and therefore, Biden was technically president for 6 minutes).

    Like Batman, Obama has no superpowers- he uses brains, brawn, and a Blackberry. When Spidey meets up with Obama in issue 583 after thwarting inauguration disaster, they join as partners not just in an ideological struggle between good and evil, but in the focusing of our shades into facets of light, rather than separating through the polarizing filter of our differences.

    The President gave the American people today the lowdown that we have to dust ourselves off, and start again. He means that we should be asking not what he can do for us, but what we can do for each other.

    Don’t give up – please, don’t give up.

  • Inauguration Day

    History and the peaceful transition of government: welcome to a new era with the inauguration of 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama.

    I felt proud and happy for Joe Biden and being sworn in by J. Stevens. It was a bit of a keystone for a big career and life of Biden.

    But, the key moment was in seeing the day I didn’t think I’d see, but glad we have – history – the first black President of the United States, sworn in.

    Dahlia Lithwick on the little error in the swearing-in of President Obama. I took it as basically two confident men demonstrating how human they are (probably nervous!). NY Times’ Adam Liptak (the Linda Greenhouse successor) explains that the flub during the swearing-in is… de minimus! That’s right, people! He’s still President! šŸ˜‰ Who’d have the standing to challenge it, and it’s not like Ch.J. Roberts would rule on his own error. I better step off the soapbox before I sound like (gasp) a lawyer…

    I did manage to watch the inauguration from work, in a boss’ office, where we all hanged out in. I’m still catching up on the coverage, since I’m a coverage addict. But, I agree with John Dickerson on Slate (since at this point, I’d have to count myself as someone who has watched a bunch of Obama speeches and can kind of tell that feeling of thrill when it’s one of his great speeches):

    It was a good speech but not a soaring one. This may have been because Obama has given so many strong speeches, he’s graded on his own special curveā€”or because he wanted the speech to be thoroughly conventional. His call to responsibility and sacrifice was rooted in American historyā€”from the first settlers through the colonists to America’s soldiers. This is a familiar theme in a political speech. In fact, Obama gave his own speech using these themes last June, in which he made a similar call to a new patriotism founded on sacrifice. The use of “I say to you” and “on this day” constructions added to the feeling that this was a speech of the usual order. [….]

    But it goes only so far in helping him with his speech’s larger aim. His goal was to try to inspire us to give something up and reverse “our collective failure to make hard choices,” which he says marked the responsibility-free era that created our current economic mess.

    That kind of extraordinary call could have been helped by something more than historical analogies and drive-by references to brave firefighters. It required the kind of personal speechmaking Obama was so good at during the campaign. When he is at his most powerful, Obama makes you feel the connection with his message through either storytelling or references to his personal journey. [….]

    Instead of a personal story people could take home, Obama concluded his speech with the story of George Washington fighting for America’s independence. It was a perfectly fine story, suitable for treatment in oil and fit for a gilt frame, but it’s not a story that’s likely to be retold tomorrow at the office.

    Though the speech was familiar, there were some poetic high points. He talked about the “risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things,” and as he spoke, his words echoed back to him from down the Mall, where they were being broadcast on giant televisions. He framed the new spirit of sacrifice we all must embrace by referring to the extraordinary selflessness of the military. This is a smart thing for a commander in chief to do, particularly one who was portrayed by his opponents as unpatriotic. And by putting out his familiar call for “a new era of responsibility,” he has ensured that the phrase will be repeated throughout his tenure. And he hopes that the policies he will promise later, on everything from health care to entitlement reform, will become a part of the larger narrative of his presidency.

    He was alternatively humble and commanding. He repudiated Bush’s foreign policy. “We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals,” Obama said. “Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake.” He promised humility and restraint. But then, he tempered that new approach with a clear message to America’s enemies: “We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.” As he spoke, a fighter plane circled overhead, a tiny black spot against unspecific clouds.

    How long Obama’s words endure is a separate question from the enduring power of the inaugural moment. Though he never mentioned Martin Luther King Jr., Obama faced the Lincoln Memorial from where King articulated a dream that Obama is now helping to fulfill. That monument seemed brighter in the bitter cold, as did all the bleached white buildings that line the Mall. Between them jostled the millions of people who had come to hear and see him, their small American flags creating a blur of red, white, and blue among the museums and monuments.

    Yes, it was more than the speech – the sight of the teeming masses or sea of people – this was America, this is America. Yes, as Obama said: choose hope over fear – this is what we voted for – not against something, but for something.

    Thought it was hilarious enough that Alma Mater tracked down Obama’s college roommate for the alumni magazine (those alumni office resources…), but the Times apparently jumped on board too; well, jeez, Times, but Columbia College Today had the story first!

    Four years ago: the continuation of the Bush era; I don’t remember it now, but apparently, according to the blog post, I had a pretty tepid response to that inauguration. But, time moves on, and we’ll see what’s next.

  • A Cold Saturday

    I am ridiculously behind the Battlestar Galactica bandwagon (I tried, I really did, to get on it; but my access to SciFi channel’s ridiculously hampered and I have yet to get the dvds, if they’re out there already). The last episodes begins, and even the Times is writing up on it; any word on who the last Cylon is? …

    The passing of American painter Andrew Wyeth. I find it fascinating that he was both admired and doubted, as the art writer Richard Lacayo of Time notes as does Larry Rohter in the NY Times.

    The passing of John Mortimer, British barrister and writer of “Rumpole of the Bailey.” An appreciation of Mortimer by NY Times’ Charles McGrath.

  • TGIF

    The passing of Patrick McGoohan, best known for his role as Number Six of “The Prisoner,” and his famous line, “I am not a number!” Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker has commentary, as does David Bianculli. I recommend watching “The Simpsons” episode where they parodied “The Prisoner” – and Homer Simpson’s stealing Number Six’s raft.

    My past link on “The Prisoner” – here.

    The passing of Ricardo Montalban – best known for his roles as Khan in Star Trek (the creepy “Space Seed” episode, and, of course, “Khaaan!” as Kirk says in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”), and Mr. Roarke of “Fantasy Island” (no, Mr. Roarke was not always a nice man). It’s nice to think about Montalban, who helped to bring some diversity in the media at a time when there probably wasn’t much of it; as the NY Times obituary that I linked noted:

    Though Mr. Roarke became Mr. MontalbĆ”nā€™s signature role, it was a mere bump in the timeline of a career that spanned decades, media and genres. Mr. MontalbĆ”n embodied stereotypes, fought them and transcended them in his years in show business. His entire reputation, both as smooth Latin seducer and parodist of a smooth Latin seducer, was capsulized in a television advertisement from the mid-1970s in which he served as pitchman for the Cordoba, a luxury car being introduced by Chrysler. He purred over the automobileā€™s assets, including the seats, upholstered, he said, in ā€œsoft, Corinthian leather,ā€ a phrase that became a campy giggle-inducer, especially after it became known that there is no such thing as Corinthian leather, from Corinth or anywhere else: the description was just a marketing invention.

    Plus, interesting commentary on Entertainment Weekly’s website on Montalban as Khan.

    Anyway, I think it was kind of funny that two guys associated with weird islands passed away so close in time like this; plus, “Lost” is coming back, so… hmm… more weird islands and existentialist and mind-blowing entertainment coming our way.

    Plus, from James Poniewozik on Time.com – his observations on McGoohan (apparently, AMC was in the works to do a remake of “The Prisoner”), Montalban, and the “Lost” connection (well, he’s gearing up for the return of “Lost”).

    Sudden news arose (Miracle on the Hudson, indeed; thank goodness about that the airplane crash-landed in the water without fatalities), but I’ll note that NYS will have a new chief judge – Governor Paterson has appointed Justice Lippman to succeed Chief Judge Kaye on the Court of Appeals. NY state of mind, indeed.

  • Stuff

    Still can’t believe that it’s 2009. NY Times’ A.O. Scott on “The Apartment,” a New Year’s in New York kind of movie, with a touch of darkness but a touch of hope. There’s a lot of darkness out there, so it’s kind of hard to stay hopeful.

    There are plenty of reasons why the US ex-presidents and current president don’t quite talk to each other all that much; still, it can’t be a bad idea.

    Neil deGrasse Tyson – the man who (via the NY Times, possibly) got the general population heated up about whether Pluto is a planet – may be asked by the Obama administration to head NASA (wow!); until then, he’s still host of Nova ScienceNow.

    Speaking of the up-coming Obama administration, the Republicans in the Senate are apparently a little too eager about asking US Attorney General nominee Eric Holder about clients that he had while he’s been a Big Firm lawyer. So, doing work in the private sector gets one scrutiny (not to say one can’t do conflicts checks, because that is the point), but doesn’t this kind of discourages people from going into the public sector/public interest? So Holder made money; nothing says that he can’t do the job of US Attorney General. I hope the Republicans can do their end of the hearings correctly.

    I only read one Nelson de Mille book; but the profile about him in the NY Times was fascinating and confirms how he got all that realism into his books (research and life experience).

    NYC bloggers who blog about NYC. Hmm. Can be kind of crazy, I guess.

    I don’t poke around Entertainment Weekly’s website all that much (it’s kind of kooky over there, not gleaming pretty like the hard copy magazine), so it wasn’t until Time’s James Poniewozik reported on his blog did I learn about Ken Tucker’s Watching TV blog on EW.com; Tucker’s blog seems pretty cool. I’m kind of unsure of what to expect for 2009 tv, but he raises interesting stuff.

    Ken Tucker on Neil Patrick Harris on Saturday Night Live last night. I only caught the opening monologue. Legen-wait for it-dary. Silly me for not watching the rest of the show (when they got the Today show skit, I couldn’t watch; Kathy Lee Gifford mimicry, no matter how dead-on, didn’t grab me).

    I thought the video below was cute: Harry Bellafante v. Animal, in a drumming competition of sorts. Bellafante’s enthusiasm was great and Animal… well, he’s quite the Muppet.

  • Stuff in the New Year

    (Fake) law and tv: this was a great interview with Sam Waterston on NPR, remembering his past roles – not just “Law and Order” (although that’s been pretty cool though).

    Plus, this week’s episode of “Law & Order” was pretty good, actually, considering how many plotlines kept unraveling. Basically, they took off a story that Nightline also covered about Haitian child slaves; added (what else?) murder (the victims: divorce lawyers); and more (moral ambiguities – ooh! grand jury duty – ugh…). The 13th Amendment of the US Constitution was pretty much sullied, and yet it was way hard for DA McCoy and his crew to do much (poor Cutter; there’s no justice when you’re prosecuting something really hard here); Lt. Van Buren and her side of the “Law & Order” did what they could. Det. Lupo once again exploited his position as a law student (trading his con law outline to this guy – apparently another law student but working at the clerk’s office – to access privileged info; what…?!).

    With the Middle East problematic as ever, this Q&A on Time.com was illuminating, with thoughtful answers (which probably lead to more questions) from author Avram Burg.

    If you’re a fictitious person, how do you figure out when is your birthday? It’s Sherlock Holmes’ (arbitrarily determined) birthday weekend!

    Fascinating profile of a Hong Kong chef.

    Asian American in the news: Dr. Sanjay Gupta was apparently broached about the position as US Surgeon General. Is he a good choice? Then, again – still – he’s a tv doctor – a real doctor, but… he’s on tv. But, it looks like this is for real. No more Dr. Gupta on CNN or in Time magazine? Aww!

    An article in the Washington Post about the Japanese retail shops in NYC.

    This article on traveling in Kyoto, Japan, probably gave me much more about “The Tale of Genji” than I wanted to know, more than had ever heard when I was in college taking an Asian studies course.

    Priceless photo op for the new year (at least, during horrific times that we’re living in anyway): the presidents and the president-elect meeting for lunch. I remembered enjoying the pictures back when Nixon and Ford joined Carter, Bush and Clinton; been awhile since we’ve had this many living presidents together.

    Odd presidential thing – apparently, a few years ago, someone got President-Elect Obama talking about his favorite food in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago; Michael Scherer of Time Magazine posted the video and his commentary on Time.com’s Swampland blog. Scherer’s comment amused me: “I envision a return to presidential politics for Frank Bruni, the chief gourmand at the New York Times.” Glad to know that I’m not the only one who thinks Bruni should somehow balance his old beat and his current one…! (he’s kind of done it before, as I’ve previously noticed more than once…).

  • Happy New Year! (Or Happy 3rd Day of 2009)

    I can’t believe it’s already 2009.

    Getting ready for the inauguration: apparently, the US Supreme Court’s going to rely on some nifty little traditions; a fascinating look back on history on Law.com.

    Somehow, I shouldn’t be surprised that this NY Times blog post came up – I was wondering the other night on whether the Times Sq. revelers would eat or go to the bathroom…silly me to really wonder…

    As I noted last year, I think this is turning into a way cool New Year’s tradition: an outdoor NHL game! This time, in Wrigley Field?! Awesome! (I’d be too chicken to brave the cold, but this is a nice – maybe insane – way to remember the origins of hockey).

    The Daily News editorial in 1/2/09’s newspaper, honoring Chief Judge Kaye on her retirement (second item; not the one about Gov. Blagojevich of Illinois).

    New Year’s Eve: I joined friends for dinner at Bogota Bistro in Park Slope – pretty good food, I must say; and then board games. What fun – great hilarity ensued!

    New Year’s Day – I actually didn’t get to watch that much of the aforementioned outdoors NHL game on the big screen HDTV at home, since the siblings and I headed out into the frigid cold to enjoy a bit of Manhattan. Dropped by MoMa (or at least enjoyed the shop, since we didn’t get to check out the Van Goghs – hard to get those timed tickets); got cupcakes at Magnolia at Radio City/Rockefeller Center; then some bit of dining at Congee Bowery (thumbs up for the food and decor); and then a visit at Whole Foods (Bowery) (where I understood that the Top Chef season in NYC located the food shopping).

    2008 in review? Hmm…

    Memorable sports stuff: the Giants’ Super Bowl! Can they make 2009 just as memorable? We’ll see!

    The Mets made 2008 an unpleasant one, as do the Yankees, plus farewells to many, including Paul Newman – as this post attests.

    Labor Day Weekend 2008 in Washington, D.C.

    Went to Chicago for the vacation – see here and here.

    Of course, FC and P’s special day in 2008! (a triscribe highlight!)

    Living in history on Election Day 2008.

    I did another novel for National Novel Writing Month; I may actually be tempted to edit it in 2009. I never did say I wasn’t crazy!

    Birthday dinner at Momofuku!

    There is so much more that I’m probably forgetting. Anyway, last but not least: 5 Years of Triscribe! My God, time flies when you’re having fun with the Triscribers! Have a Happy and Healthy New Year, Triscribers, to you and your friends and families!!!

    Dare I do new resolutions? I’ll likely just renew 2008’s resolutions and strive to do better.

  • Eve of New Year’s Eve

    On Sunday, I saw “Frost/Nixon” the movie – great watch and great cast. (Probably not a coincidence that the real original Frost/Nixon interviews are now out on dvd). Frank Langella oozed Nixonian in his portrayal as Nixon; Michael Sheen as Frost – well, I had no idea that Sir David Frost back in the day was so light-weight (ok, I’m not so familiar with Frost), and the rest of the cast was good too. Recommended.

    I’m not a big enough movie-viewer to make a list of 2008 movies, but suffice to say that I really thought well of “The Dark Knight” and the films of AAIFF’08 and “Wall-E,” and even “Iron Man.” “Quantum of Solace” was also a decent watch. I didn’t hate the X-Files movie (although I’m probably the only one).

    For 2008 in review, TV critic David Bianculli on his tv top ten list; and tv critic James Poniewozik on his tv worst list and his Tuned-In (mostly tv) Persons of the Year (and his top 10 best 2008 tv stuff and top 10 2008 tv episodes (I agree with Poniewozik – the Lost episode “The Constant” was quite an episode for 2008).

    Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker also has his best/worst of 2008 lists (I agree with him on “Fringe” and “Lost” as among the best; and on his worst – “Knight Rider” and “The Moment of Truth (really shitty, FOX, really)).

    EW also has a best and worst episodes list – sooo happy that they included the amazing “How I Met Your Mother” episode with Ted’s lovely 2 minute date.

    Among the great pictures of 2008 in the year’s end issue of EW is a funny gallery of photos where the “How I Met Your Mother” cast pose in the year’s big events (the guys posing as the USA men’s swim team’s big gold win at Beijing 2008 Olympics and a posing from a scene in “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” were strangely amusing to me for some reason).

    My personal Top TV list for 2008 – which I had posted on Bianculli’s website and re-post here: (in no particular order and intentionally adding what others might not have mentioned, plus unnecessary commentary!):

    1. “Fringe” (FOX) – I’m glad FOX is giving the series a shot; it seems to be getting stronger as the season continues – and I love the father-son relationship of Walter and Peter.

    2. “Lost” (ABC) – what a season! Very interested to see what will happen when it returns.

    3. “How I Met Your Mother” (CBS) – what fun was the end of last season, despite the strike! And this season has been some great laughs.

    4. “Life” (NBC) – I was stunned that NBC renewed it after the strike-shortened first season, since I thought that series I liked wouldn’t succeed (and I liked it in 2007). But, the couple of episodes I caught this season was great fun, even if I still don’t quite appreciate the conspiracy storyline. Damian Lewis is great; and Adam Arkin and Sarah Shahi are underappreciated.

    5. “Eli Stone” (ABC) – It was the fun series of spring 2008, and I was happy that ABC returned it. I missed much of this season, much to my regret; boo to ABC for cancelling it.

    6. The Presidential coverage – for good or bad, this was quite a tv event of 2008; as I’m a PBS snob, kudos especially to Jim Lehrer and the Newshour crew for their work during this election year and Charlie Rose for his interviews and roundtables.

    7. “Aliens in America” (CW) – sweet, short-lived series on friendship and family with good humor, and kudos for trying a little something different in the age of a more diverse America (when an American family hosts a South Asian Muslim foreign exchange student, things get amusingly complicated); I’ll even give a little kudos to CW for “Reaper,” which was a bit more fun than I expected.

    8. Again, I’m a PBS snob, so I’ll also add “Great Performances” for its coverage of the NY Philharmonic’s concert in Pyongyang, North Korea (I even blogged about it); and “Masterpiece Theatre” (for continuing to give quality drama, even in such troubling financial times, which began awhile ago for “Masterpiece Theatre”/”Mystery” when they had to be under one umbrella), especially for rescuing me during the strike.

    9. “Law and Order” (NBC) (the original/the mothership) – the 18th season (starting in Jan. 2008-May 2008, due to NBC’s scheduling shenanigans and then disrupted minimally by the writers’ strike) – during the strike had me watching; the cast of new detectives and the new ADA turned out to be more fun than I thought – and less of the melodrama of “SVU” and “Criminal Intent,” which relieved me (if it’s not obvious, I’m not a big “SVU” or “CI” viewer; just not my cup of tea). The 19th season of L&O so far has been also fun, keeping up with the quality of last season.

    10. “John Adams” (HBO) – wow.

    Extra credit to Letterman, Leno, O’Brien, and Ferguson for their efforts on late night tv this year.

    For worst tv of 2008, I’ll nominate “Knight Rider” (NBC) (I may have grown up with and enjoyed the campiness of the original “Knight Rider,” but that doesn’t mean it had to come back, and in such poor execution), and I’ll also continue my disapproval of bad reality tv (of which 2008 seemed to have a lot).

  • Merry Christmas!

    A thoughtful Christmas, as we’re in the middle of an economic crisis and two wars.

    The passing of Eartha Kitt, actress/singer/political activist.

    A NY Times article on President-Elect Obama’s Hawaiian attitude. We should all have a little Hawaiian zen in us during these hard times and the holiday stresses.

    How Christian is Christmas? Considering that Christmas co-opted some pagan practices and then there are those secular tendencies of Christmas, maybe we should try to accept that Christmas is rich and more than we think it is. An op-ed by Laura Miller, regarding C.S. Lewis’ portrayal of Christmas in Narnia.

    Columns by NY Times’ Nicholas Kristof and Thomas Friedman to get us thinking about the state of things in the middle of the holiday season of 2008:

    Kristof notes that studies out there suggest that so-called liberals don’t individually give as much as so-called conservatives, even though the so-called liberals expect the government to do more and conservatives don’t think it’s the government’s job at all to do much (ok, I’m simplifying). He raises the interesting questions of what does it really mean to be generous during this time of year, and does your political outlook affect your generosity?

    Friedman passionately notes about what Americans must do (and I found myself whole-heartily agreeing):

    My fellow Americans, we canā€™t continue in this mode of ā€œDumb as we wanna be.ā€ Weā€™ve indulged ourselves for too long with tax cuts that we canā€™t afford, bailouts of auto companies that have become giant wealth-destruction machines, energy prices that do not encourage investment in 21st-century renewable power systems or efficient cars, public schools with no national standards to prevent illiterates from graduating and immigration policies that have our colleges educating the worldā€™s best scientists and engineers and then, when these foreigners graduate, instead of stapling green cards to their diplomas, we order them to go home and start companies to compete against ours.

    To top it off, weā€™ve fallen into a trend of diverting and rewarding the best of our collective I.Q. to people doing financial engineering rather than real engineering. These rocket scientists and engineers were designing complex financial instruments to make money out of money ā€” rather than designing cars, phones, computers, teaching tools, Internet programs and medical equipment that could improve the lives and productivity of millions. [….]

    Thatā€™s why we donā€™t just need a bailout. We need a reboot. We need a build out. We need a buildup. We need a national makeover. That is why the next few months are among the most important in U.S. history. Because of the financial crisis, Barack Obama has the bipartisan support to spend $1 trillion in stimulus. But we must make certain that every bailout dollar, which weā€™re borrowing from our kidsā€™ future, is spent wisely.

    It has to go into training teachers, educating scientists and engineers, paying for research and building the most productivity-enhancing infrastructure ā€” without building white elephants. Generally, Iā€™d like to see fewer government dollars shoveled out and more creative tax incentives to stimulate the private sector to catalyze new industries and new markets. If we allow this money to be spent on pork, it will be the end of us.

    America still has the right stuff to thrive. We still have the most creative, diverse, innovative culture and open society ā€” in a world where the ability to imagine and generate new ideas with speed and to implement them through global collaboration is the most important competitive advantage. China may have great airports, but last week it went back to censoring The New York Times and other Western news sites. Censorship restricts your peopleā€™s imaginations. Thatā€™s really, really dumb. And thatā€™s why for all our missteps, the 21st century is still up for grabs.

    John Kennedy led us on a journey to discover the moon. Obama needs to lead us on a journey to rediscover, rebuild and reinvent our own backyard.

    Merry Christmas!

    Well, let’s try to have some hope and cheer: a clip of “The Hard Nut” from YouTube, as I tend to think that it’s never quite the holidays until I view multiple versions of “The Nutcracker.”