Triscribe

Category: Brooklyn

  • Cold Wintery Snowy December

    A slushy and snowy messy December day.

    Fascinating Slate article on the kinds of district court judges that Obama should take a look at in deciding who to appoint for the appellate level – and there are a lot of positions to fill.

    Oh how sad – the passing of Majel Roddenberry, the widow of Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek – most famous for her roles as “Number One” in the pilot, the Enterprise’s first officer (a woman of authority in the final frontier, a pioneer for the 1960’s); Nurse Chapel; Mrs. Troi in “ST: The Next Generation”; and of course, the voice of the computer in almost all the ST series and the movies.

  • December’s Going By Fast, Or Christmas is Coming!

    The least surprising item of news: Obama’s Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.

    NY Times’ Thomas Friedman on the irony of the current economic crisis:

    The stranger, a Western businessman, slipped into the chair next to me at an Asia Society lunch here in Hong Kong and asked me a question that I can honestly say I’ve never been asked before: “So, just how corrupt is America?” [….] It’s the whole bloody mess coming out of Wall Street — the financial center that Hong Kong moneymen had always looked up to. How could it be, they wonder, that such brand names as Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and A.I.G. could turn out to have such feet of clay? Where, they wonder, was our Securities and Exchange Commission and the high standards that we had preached to them all these years?

    One of Hong Kong’s most-respected bankers, who asked not to be identified, told me that the U.S.-owned investment company where he works made a mint in the last decade cleaning up sick Asian banks. They did so by importing the best U.S. practices, particularly the principles of “know thy customers” and strict risk controls. But now, he asked, who is there to look to for exemplary leadership?

    “Previously, there was America,” he said. “American investors were supposed to know better, and now America itself is in trouble. Whom do they sell their banks to? It is hard for America to take its own medicine that it prescribed successfully for others. There is no doctor anymore. The doctor himself is sick.” [….]

    The Madoff affair is the cherry on top of a national breakdown in financial propriety, regulations and common sense. Which is why we don’t just need a financial bailout; we need an ethical bailout. We need to re-establish the core balance between our markets, ethics and regulations. I don’t want to kill the animal spirits that necessarily drive capitalism — but I don’t want to be eaten by them either.

    I’m not saying that capitalism is bad – but regulation and rule of law exist for reason that should be obvious. Or so we would like to think are obvious. What a mess the economic crisis (recession; depression?) is turning into.

    With the scandal in Illinois of Governor Blagojevich, US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is the attorney in the news. Time.com did a profile on Fitzgerald – ex-New Yorker. At one point one of “People” magazine’s “Sexiest Men,” he’s married now – but seems to be still a workaholic and what a job in prosecuting the Illinois thing… (hey, sort of a follow up to the year where he had been Lawyer of the Year, huh?).

    Entertainment Weekly’s Ken Tucker on the revitalization of the Law side of “Law and Order,” with the legal wrangling between DA McCoy (Sam Waterston) vs. ADA Cutter (Linus Roache). I agree – it has been good stuff to watch. Yes, last night’s episode had a ripped-out-of-the-headline plot (man and his family living a green lifestyle to decrease their carbon footprint) with the non-headline twist that the wife died in a murder, but the heartbreaker was the law portion. It was sad watching the trial judge (Ned Beatty) be revealed as turning to dementia and the law clerk (Sherry Stringfield) was trying to prop him up to keep her job going (and not because she (kind of) had something romantic going with Cutter), and she was a law clerk (actually court attorney, but oh well) who had graduated from middle of her class of her middling law school (or so she told Cutter; so what law school did Cutter go to?). She came off creepy, and made me wonder why on earth Cutter was attracted to her (well, give him credit for being a sucker for smart pretty women; although it was funny how McCoy and ADA Rubirosa raised their eyebrows over Cutter’s implied dating said law clerk).

    Ultimately, Cutter moved forward to try to get the judge off the trial, because he did not feel it was right that the judge remain because of the incompetency. He earned the ire of the judiciary (not like McCoy didn’t warn him that would happen; but it is uncomfortable that even McCoy would rather get the conviction than be concerned that the judge wasn’t competent). Plus, people were grumbling about the questionable romance that was going on in the background, and how Cutter foolishly approached the judge in an ex parte manner (after he and Rubirosa spied on the law clerk and the judge during lunch at the Odeon on West Broadway (not some fake restaurant!)), risking disbarment (seriously, Cutter’s been on the series for a second season and the man’s still juggling chainsaws).

    No easy stuff. Oh, and the defense attorney was also great this time – I recognize her as the Broadway actress who won the Tony this year. At least, I think so – I can’t seem to dig up credit on the imdb.com or other sources.

    Neither law nor politics:

    A scientific approach to procrastination (fighting it, that is).

    Maybe this media theme lately is procrastination: Newsweek has an article too; I had put off reading the article, but then decided I couldn’t keep avoiding it.

    Last but not least: Mark “The Minimalist” Bittman on using leftover egg whites to make little meringues. Mmm! He makes it look real easy on the video, using a ziplock bag to squeeze the meringues into being meringues.

  • Silly Rabbit! Trix are for Kids! (or How to be Mildly Entertained)

    Friday – another birthday; another year and not necessarily wiser. But nice to get away from the office, and so cool to have a nice birthday dinner – Momofuku Noodle Bar. Considering how often I’ve linked to stuff about David Chang and his Momofuku restaurants, I was happy that my siblings and I finally did a Momofuku (my brother has been to Momofuku Ssam a couple of times – and he said the desserts are indeed good). The steamed pork buns were delicious; the smoked chicken wings were tasty. I ordered the Momofuku ramen – good ramen, but a bit saltier than I liked. Thumbs up generally.

    Timely too – NY Times’ Frank Bruni made a return to Ssam and enjoyed it.

    Hilarious review of the new Star Trek movie trailer on Television Without Pity (as part of the Trailers Without Pity feature):

    TV Stuff:

    “Fringe” — hmm, Special Agent Olivia Dunham probably did take too much LSD when Dr. Walter Bishop put her into the limbo tank to communicate with her comatose-then-dead boyfriend. So, she has dead boyfriend’s memories stuck in her brain, and now everyone wants her to get to those memories. Hmm. Gee, do you think this means one shouldn’t take LSD? Plus, what the heck is Peter Bishop? Is he a clone, or his father really nuts (hmm, maybe the latter; but Walter would be the first to admit that he doesn’t have his sanity intact).

    “Law and Order” – well, I missed about more than a quarter of the episode, but it was quite entertaining. A return of the EEE-vil (or just way amoral) Governor of NYS (you think Spitzer had his nutty moments? Or that Patterson’s funny? Or Pataki irritating or Cuomo stubborn – too stubborn to even have his official portrait done?), well, get a load of the Governor on “L&O” – makes the real governors of NY look great.

    Dets. Lupo and Bernard find out that upstate NY ain’t too keen on them downstaters. Det. Lupo thinks that being a cop – a detective no less – and a first year (part-time or evening) law student allows him to represent himself in small town court when the NYS troopers arrest him for being a downstater (kidding; they arrested him to prevent him from taking a witness and because he got a little pissed that they roughed up ADA Rubirosa, who was probably a little charmed by Lupo’s chivalry, since she’s not exactly a shrinking violet kind of woman). Thought the moment where ADA Cutter had Lupo doing legal research on the laptop was HILARIOUS. Thank you, L&O writers; you as fellow lawyers find ways to make it really amusing and proud to be a lawyer!

    Plus, ripped-from-the-headlines – not just the whole “Gee, what is the governor making the troopers do?” but also the whole “gee, are upstate civil courts handing out justice properly?”

    McCoy going toe to toe with the EEEvil Governor, and then finally deciding he’s going to run for DA of NY county and having Cutter be the first person to sign the petition to get McCoy on the ballot. Umm, shouldn’t make sure Cutter is a NY County resident (probably; he doesn’t strike me as an outer-borough guy) and is it ethical to have one of your subordinates do that in front of you, in your office – like a conflict of interest or something? He must be pretty darn confident about his personal respect and friendship with Cutter.

    Plus, the entertaining guest stars of Katee Sackhoff (aka Starbuck of “Battle Galactica” – not a show I watch, since I keep missing it every single time) as the tough as nails murder suspect and Clancy Brown as the EEEvil upstate small town sheriff.

    Well, this Daily News article explains why Channel 11 has been changing its brand to “WPIX” again, rather than “CW11” (after a few years as “WB11”). I always thought “CW11” was silly, but being “PIX” rather than the full “WPIX”?) again has been weird.

    Plus, the Channel 4 new news studio is major weird – too blue. And, Channel 4 is laying off more people, right in the middle of setting up one of its digital channels into an all-local news channel. Hmm.

    Last but never least: a link to Robert Pinsky poem; the former US Poet laureate on family; things to think about during the holidays as we spend time with our relatives.

  • Pearl Harbor Day and Other Items

    It’s Pearl Harbor Day.

    President-Elect Obama has selected Retired General Eric Shinseki to be Secretary of the Veteran Affairs Department. Shinseki is not only Asian-American (Hawaiian born), he was someone who disagreed with the Bush administration (or certainly Rumsfeld) on how to approach the war in Iraq.

    Speaking of veterans, the veterans in our metro area are trying to fix their mom-and-pop businesses as they return from war. Tough situation.

    Craziness in Canada – Hmmm… as much as we might be upset with things in the US, Canada’s constitutional crisis sounds… insane… I’d be worried if I were Canadian.

    I agree with columnist Timothy Egan that it’s unfair that Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin get paid to publish books when no one really knows their ability to, say, write. But I’m surprised that he didn’t mention that the publishers are paying them for their names/notoriety alone – the publishers will just hire ghostwriters who will do the real writing. I just won’t pay for either of these books. And, like Egan, would rather see when Barack Obama will write again (well, after the presidency, obviously, but he’s a real writer).

    And, last but not least: 1st Vietnamese-American has been elected as a US Congressman: lawyer Joseph Cao, to represent Louisiana. He’s a Republican, but I guess I can’t hold that against him; we’ll see what he can do, is the real issue.

  • See You in… December

    Temperature-wise, it’s starting to feel a lot like it’s December to me.

    Apparently, there’s a reason why it’s hard to figure out what’s a male polar bear v. a female polar bear; Slate’s Explainer explains.

    If you’re that confused, you could make yourself a Muppet, at FAO Schwartz.

    This does not sound like a real fun oral arguments at the US Supreme Court, the way Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick describes it.

    A really fascinating NY Times profile of nominated US Attorney General Eric Holder, a native New Yorker (formerly of Queens), alumnus of Stuyvesant High Scool, alumnus of Columbia (undergrad and Law School – Alma Mater’s tooting the horn here).

    But, wait – there’s more – other bigwigs from NYC public high schools who made it big in politics outside the city, as discussed in Sewell Chan’s post for NY Times’ City Room blog. Mostly on those Stuy alumni, plus Senator Schumer, who graduated from Madison High School in Brooklyn (or, as he put it at my high school graduation, “that other “M” school on Bedford Avenue”). But, a fascinating post (it even references to US Judge Denny Chin (SDNY)’s status as a Stuy alumnus).

    The recent terror in Mumbai (previously Bombay), India, is a sad reminder of what the world can be – and is, even in a place as diverse as India. Fascinating article about the Jews of India in the New York Times, and in Newsweek: “Can India and Pakistan Learn to Cooperate?” and Fareed Zakaria wonders if this might be an opportunity for India – and South Asia at large – to reform.

    Plus, since it’s now December, NY Times’ Jennifer 8. Lee on the 5th Avenue holiday window shopping — weird and cool as ever.

  • Yet Another Nat’l Novel Writing Month Ends, or Hello December!

    As it was last year, National Novel Writing Month sadly came to an end. I did my silly novel:

    Finished the story, not just hit the 50k word minimum. We’re all winners!

    I’m not sure if I’ll touch this story again – something I’m calling “The Mystery of the Venerated Chalice” (take a guess – the mystery isn’t exactly about the chalice itself) – it’s a historical romantic murder mystery, with too many characters and coincidences. Plus, taking place at a historical time that I’m not exactly up on (research? what research?). But, the murderer’s sanity completely cracked and the male inspector and the woman of interest reached an understanding. It ended in a nice way, but I didn’t quite feel I knew the characters and it can be quite confining to write a mystery with clues along the way and not make it that obvious that I know who’s the murderer already (short of, say, putting an anvil on the murderer’s head, along with big red glowing arrows).

    But, it was fun to have hanged out with other NaNos and cheering each other on, and maybe I’m creatively re-charged to get back on track with non-NaNo projects, of which there are many!

    On to items, of the more usual triscribe note (as I dust around here while my fellow triscribers are… not here…)…

    Asians/APA’s in the news… (for better, or for worse!):

    On a belated note, Yahoo’s CEO Jerry Yang stepped down as CEO. Well, there are many reasons for this – not getting that Yahoo/AOL merger was probably one thing or the thing with Microsoft, and maybe getting pommelled by Google… There seems to be discussion that he wasn’t enough of a leader – perhaps even too… “apologetic.” The latter link there is to a NY Times blog post that kind of concerned me – if Jerry Yang were a white man, would the commenters in that post say the same things? Am I reading more into this than I should? After all, poor business judgment transcends cultural/racial backgrounds. Plus, Yang seemed too wishy-washy about things. Maybe.

    Part of me could be more concerned for Yang, but for the moment, I’m just hoping that Yahoo keeps going, since I’ve tons of e-mail there.

    Speaking of other CEO’s with trouble… I don’t envy the situation of Vikram Pandit of Citigroup. His 11/25/08 interview on Charlie Rose could’ve been more interesting, but there wasn’t much Pandit could say about the developing situation other than “let’s see what will happen next in this unprecedented situation. Thank God we’re getting help from the government.” Or maybe I got bored because finance and economics bore me until they scare me. But, it’s cool that Charlie Rose got this exclusive. He really asked questions, even if he got mostly non-answers (and probably shouldn’t be blamed for what his predecessors caused).

    Time’s cover article is about Michelle Rhee, superintendent of the public school system of Washington, D.C. Another person whose job I don’t envy. After reading the article, I can’t say that I quite agree with her tactics, but I guess it’s clear that her intentions and ideas seems genuine. There’s also an interesting accompanying on-line video.

    Plus, this issue of Time has this fascinating article about a walking desk (that is, a desk with a treadmill, so you can walk and work). The article’s author, Belinda Luscombe, was even generous in demonstrating the device in the on-line video. In high heels! (visually confirming what she described in the article). How she managed to do any work amazes me. Plus, her British accent made the whole thing seemed very authoritative. But, was Time awfully nice about putting such an item up – the video, that is. But, the article was illuminating too, so read it!

    Fascinating bit on Newsweek.com – a Q&A with Jean Ping, Chairman of the African Union Commission, on whether Africa may have a federation much like the US (well, we’re still one nation, with various states) or the European Union (hmm – now that’ll be interesting – a whole continent in economic collaboration). Turns out that Jean Ping is half-Chinese and half-Gabonese – which might give him a unique perspective – at least, I wonder if it does?

    Yoga is a centuries-old Asian exercise, so… kind of interesting to read that various Muslim clerics in Malaysia are now saying that yoga makes a Muslim less… Muslim, just when yoga’s turning into quite a trend for middle class people looking to find ways to relax and be fit. Hmm…

  • Happy Thanksgiving

    “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.” – Meister Eckhart

    Saw the latest James Bond movie, “Quantum of Solace.” Fun and very much Bond. Actor Daniel Craig makes one feel Bond’s pain (psychological and physical neither are that much fun). Judi Dench and Jeffrey Wright also make for a nice watch.

    Citifield… ought to be called Shea Stadium again. City council people seem to suggest calling it “City/Taxpayers Field” considering how much money the taxpayers are pitching in to help Citigroup.

    November’s going by quite quick.

  • Pre-Pre-Thanksgiving Eve

    Pardon the lengthiness of the post; I got behind in blogging due to the progress of my National Novel Writing Month project.

    Various articles on the state of the legal profession, at least from the NY Times. (ABA Journal has articles, too, apparently, but I’m way behind on reading that):

    An article on how even lawyers are getting layed off. Sigh… Local and state gov’ts are in hiring freezes (well, if you hunt down the agency with the need, and willing to wait it out, you the poor lawyer might still have a shot at being a local/state lawyer); fed govt is… well, wait that out; and the private sector… I’m rolling my eyes now.

    Plus, so, the Big Firm are sending lawyers abroad… well, the ones with some years under their belt and who are now more willing than ever to go. Hmm. That and the options in outsourcing could make difficult. Just a thought. Not like I really know.

    The US Attorney of Southern District of NY and the US Attorney for the District of NJ – both are resigning, and reflecting on their work and their future. Big changes coming, and with the new US President, well, transitions are going to take time.

    Plus, the possibilities raised in having Eric Holder as the next US Attorney General – a former NY’er (Stuyvesant H.S. alumnus; an Alma Mater alumnus) — very interesting! Dahlia Lithwick’s column on Slate — interesting analysis on Eric Holder. I do agree that people who push his one negative – that whole pardon problem during the end of the Clinton administration – can only go so far on that; Holder is a great nominee to restore the DOJ’s standing – which is badly needed.

    And, speaking of Cabinet selections, Time’s Karen Tumulty observes that someone else recognized that this proposal to have Hilary Clinton as US Secretary of State sounded an awful lot like a “West Wing” episode. Hmm… Goodness, did Obama watch more tv than he claimed he did?

    Time’s Joe Klein suggests what I think is a lovely idea: “Bush Junior’s national security team was thought to be ‘strong’ in 2001–but Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld ran away with it. I don’t see that sort of thing happening here, but if this is, indeed, the team–it might be a good idea for [Hilary] Clinton, [current and possibly retainable Sec’y of Defense Robert] Gates, [Retired General-possible next National Security Advisor James] Jones, Obama and [VP-elect Joe] Biden to go off for a weekend retreat somewhere, have a few drinks and get to know each other.”

    If they get to know each other, maybe they can work together well and brainstorm ideas that might work. And, this might also sound like an episode of “West Wing” too.

    Oh, heck, let’s just do everything that they did in “West Wing.” And, have Alan Alda be behind our science policy and Martin Sheen in something or what (as his imdb.com’s bio notes how often he ha been arrested for protesting, probably not quite what his President Bartlet would do, but that’s hard to say).

    NY Times’ analysis on the whole “maybe the car industry ought to file for bankruptcy” idea. Look, it’s been a few years since I studied bankruptcy, but Chapt. 11 isn’t that bad – it’s reorganization, not liquidation; so why is GM looking for a “bailout” when what they want is “help”? “Oh, no one’s going to buy a car if they know we filed for (Chapt. 11) bankruptcy” — so don’t call it that! Oh, gee whiz, GM… Then again, maybe having unions to deal with does make things complicated and I do feel for the unions. Sort of. Maybe. Well, I just don’t know; not when the American car industry doesn’t seem very practical.

    Time Magazine’s Justin Fox, who has been commenting on the car industry situation on his Time.com blog, The Curious Capitalist, suggests something that’s bankruptcy-like – conservatorship – in the magazine this week; which I thought, “Whoa, haven’t heard that since law school!” – but it does sound like a nice idea. Complicated and still unfolding situation, with employment, bankruptcy, and policy issues clashing into each other. Crazy.

    In this week’s Time, there’s also this great article about wind power, by Bryan Walsh. If I wasn’t for wind power before, I’m more for it with this article (the drawbacks: still a little expensive to do, and might kill birds, but the pros seem quite worthy). But, we apparently need more encouragement from the government and more or less laws or deal with bureaucracy. Or something.

    Speaking of law, Law and Order continues with its standard plot twists, with Det. Lupo, ADA Cutter, and the rest dealing with fundamentalist Mormons (particularly in the form of actor Colm Meaney – ex-Chief O’Brien of Star Trek fame). When even Slate has someone mildly entertained by L&O, it must be making some kind of comeback. I mean, I am actually watching it; well, yeah, the cast is attractive and amusing and the law crazy, but still, the show knows what it’s doing!

    Horribly behind on NBC’s “Life.” But, the most recent episode was fun – Detective Reese ought to be more careful with her flirtation with the precinct’s current boss – and realizes her being an addict helps in certain cases; Detective Crews really ought to be more careful with his romances and his still-ongoing obsession with the conspiracy.

    This week’s “Fringe” – touching stuff. Crazy Dr. Walter Bishop volunteers to go back to the insane asylum (umm, “institution”) to get info from his old friend, so that FBI Special Agent Olivia can crack the weird kidnapping. Peter Bishop comes to have some affection for his father, realizing that the institution probably did awful shit to Walter and Peter becomes quite protective for this man who probably did unforgiveable things to him. But, when the head of your institution is played by the actor who was Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (which even worried Chief O’Brien, note above), I wouldn’t think this is a nice institution for anyone’s mentally ill relative to be in. The father-son plotline is the heart of “Fringe.”

    And, I’m behind on this – I think it’s sad that the passing of Michael Crichton came upon the last season of “ER,” which he had been among the creators. Hope the last season can be a good season to honor him; that episode with the flashback return of Dr. Green was a heartbreaker.

    The passing of theater critic Clive Barnes — sad too, because it means less out there in the area of dance and theater.

    And, last but not least – the upcoming Star Trek movie trailer. To paraphrase the good Dr. McCoy, “I’m not a movie critic, Jim.”

  • Back to Seattle

    I’m back in Seattle for a conference. This is the first time I have been away from P- since the wedding. Flight got in about 8 local time and didn’t get dinner until 10, which is like 2 am NY time. Hit a sushi happy hour at Redfin, the house restaurant of Hotel Max. I’m staying at the Sheraton Seattle which is a massive hotel. I’m on the 32nd floor and there are 30 rooms on each floor.

    Will wake up late and try to find Salumi, the fabled cured meat emporium.

  • More Stuff in November

    “Hawaii v. Illinois” – the battle for Barack Obama as a favorite son. Can’t we all just get along?

    Actually, that headline looked like a college football or college basketball game.

    When the economy tanks, Spam and similar canned meat or meat substitute make a comeback.

    Time Magazine’s Joel Stein wants his readers’ help in naming his and his wife’s upcoming baby. Hilarious reading.

    “Fringe” on FOX has still managed to entertain me, even if it isn’t exactly great tv. I think it’s because the cast is amusing, so there’s much room to improve (as opposed to “Heroes,” which doesn’t seem to want to listen to my advice about focusing on a core of characters rather than becoming a sprawling thing). Anyway, so on “Fringe”: this week’s episode, the boss, Broyles, is all-business but for the creepy-crazy situation about his friend’s heart being engulfed by a Venus-flytrap looking parasite (umm, eeewww!), and Broyles was amusingly confused by crazy mad-scientist Dr. Walter Bishop (Broyles, didn’t you know Dr. Bishop’s a weirdo?).

    Peter, Dr. Bishop’s bright and sort-of-sane son, is still coming to terms that his father experimented on him and that they’re working with the government on weird shit (no kidding, ex-Pacey of “Dawson’s Creek”).

    Agent Olivia Dunham meets up with an ex-boyfriend (who so far seems honorable – maybe he’ll sort of die in the next couple of episodes and also turn out to be a traitor), and she’s still confused by the Conspiracy, for which Broyles tells her “You want answers? You’re not going to get them anytime soon!”

    Hmm. This really does feel like “X-Files”/”Alias”/”Lost” redux here, but it’s forgiveable, because Walter’s a sick combination of crazy and sweet. (“Do you have a mint?”).

    “Law & Order” – also entertaining, mainly because I’m turning into a sucker for good-looking men on the show (I guess I really am that shallow). Detectives Lupo and Bernard have to deal with a mentally-challenged witness to a murder. Lupo was so kind – he’s growing on me as a cute charmer (hmm, and he seems to be still taking his night classes at Alma Mater Law School? Thumbs up!). Exec. ADA Michael Cutter takes on a challenge to bluff the parents of the witness – a little twisted, but apparently DA Jack McCoy approves because that’s the kind of crazy tactic he’d take.

    Bond, James Bond, is back, but various critics seem to want him to be a bit witter or amusing. Hmm. Maybe it is time to go campy again? I haven’t seen it yet, but it is on my must-watch list.

    A strangely entertaining short film that I found on YouTube: