Category: Brooklyn

There has been much controversy the last few days about Barbara Bush’s comments on the Katrina victims in Houston. It is just rude to offer hospitality and then take on an aristocratic air. But that’s what happens when we’re fighting a war on two fronts, in Iraq and at the Gulf Coast. In both cases we’ve rushed in with inadequate forces, and now we’re literally throwing money to opportunistic corporations in cohoots with the Administration that is”conveniently” the only ones that are available to provide the supplies and equipment necessary to rebuild. Enough already.

The awful truth that the Bush family matron alludes to is that a lot of these poor people won’t be going back. Like the survivors of the Asian tsunami, the blighted land that they were on is likely to be condemned by the government and given to real estate developers. Sounds familiar?

In the wee hours of Thursday morning (or late Wednesday night), CBS aired the end of the Andre Agassi v. James Blake quarter final game. It was great watch – I don’t exactly understand tennis, but watching the game was fun. Agassi and Blake are such gracious players and great people. It was hard to decide who to root for – I rooted for both. Kudos to Agassi for ultimately winning, but they’re both winners in my book.

Hmm. This MSNBC article on the passing of Bob Denver (“Gilligan”) is very illuminating:

Gilligan… was industrious but inept. And his character was as lovable as he was inept. Viewers embraced the skinny kid in the Buster Brown haircut and white sailor hat. So did the skipper, who was played by Alan Hale Jr. and who always referred to his first mate affectionately as “little buddy.” [….]

“As silly as it seems to all of us, it has made a difference in a lot of children’s lives,” Dawn Wells, who played castaway Mary Ann Summers, once said. “Gilligan is a buffoon that makes mistakes and I cannot tell you how many kids come up and say, ‘But you loved him anyway.”’

Umm, what? Mary Ann had a last name? As the theme song goes: “Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionaire, and his wife, the moo-vie star, the professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan’s Isle.” I mean, the only characters I always thought had last names were the Howells (Thurston Howell III, the millionaire, and Lovey Howell). Well, okay, so I was only a kid when I used to watch endless summer reruns of Gilligan’s Island; I mean, it never really occurred to me that “Skipper” wasn’t really the guy’s name, rather than his rank (like “Captain” or something). But, the article reveals that not only did Mary Ann had a last name, so did Ginger (Grant), and the Professor had a full name (Roy Hinkley, Jr.). This Washington Post appreciation of Gilligan by Paul Farhi notes:

(“Gilligan’s” creator, Sherwood Schwartz, set out to skewer that elitism from the start by naming the S.S. Minnow after FCC chairman Newton Minow, who had denounced American television a “vast wasteland.”)

Schwartz believed his tale of lost souls was a sly microcosm of the earth. His philosophical implication — if something so slight as “Gilligan” can be said to have a philosophy or implications — was that the castaways were humanity itself: seven disparate, archetypical humans (the smart one, the sexy one, the rich one, the girl-woman next door, etc.), flung together randomly and thrown into a hostile, inescapable environment with only their talents to contribute to a common good.

Denver, of course, played Everyman. The lovable loser, the bumbler. Schlemiel against nature. Week after week, you could count on Gilligan to foul up whatever complicated escape plan his fellow castaways had constructed. Not that he was malicious. Quite the opposite — he was good-hearted and loving, always concerned for the welfare of his fellows (remember: “If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost”). But despite Gilligan’s best intentions, cruel fate always intervened.

Farhi also noted that Gilligan’s full name was Willy Gilligan – Gilligan was his last name?! And the Skipper? He was Jonas Grumby. What? Weird, but not entirely inappropriate (grumbly ol’ Skipper yelling “Gilligan!”). Hmm.

And, then there’s this classic “Peanuts” in the newspapers of 9/8/05 (and originally published in Sept. 4, 1969), in time for the 1st day of school (for NYC kids anyway):

Sally is sitting at her desk; teacher is (as usual) unseen, off-panel.
Panel 1 – Sally: Yes, ma’am? My name?

Sally stands up, by her desk, still facing the unseen, unheard teacher. Sally looks stern.
Panel 2 – Sally: My name is Sally Brown, and I hate school!

Panel 3 – Sally stands still, looking at the unseen, unheard teacher. Deadpan. Silence.

Sally remains standing still, by her desk, still facing the unseen, unheard teacher.
Panel 4 – Sally: Please, don’t cry…

Poor teacher. 😉 Also, I swear this might have been among the rare instances where Sally actually uses her last name. I mean, Charlie Brown was always “Charlie Brown,” and Sally (although obviously she’s “Sally Brown”) was always “Sally.” (and, by the way, interesting that the Browns and the Van Pelts (Lucy, Linus, Rerun) are the only ones with last names; Schroeder, Peppermint Patty, Marcia, Franklin, Pigpen (and even the vanished Shermy) never exactly had last names, so far as I can discern from the Peanuts website.

That’s Coldplay frontman Chris Martin running back to the stage during “In My Place” at their concert Tuesday. Man, that guy is fit. After doing his usual jig for two hours with his Coldplay cohorts, he ran the entire length of Madision Square Garden (an entire basketball court), sang two more stanzas, and then ran back to the stage. We won seats in the fanclub lottery, so we had these awesome floor seats along the left aisle. He was no more than one foot away when he made his dash!

They weren’t too preachy this time around, but let the sound and the fury do the work for them. On first blush, it was the ultimate crowd-pleasing singalong audience participation event for the 15,000 person sellout crowd — “Yellow” brought the crowd’s falsetto in unison and bobbing up and down hitting yellow beach balloons popping with confetti. On the next level, Coldplay sought to be more U2 than U2, with trademark ringing electric guitar, pounding piano playing, and effective use of the behind-the-stage widescreen Jumbotron to replicate an iPod commercial. At the deepest, unconscious level, Coldplay almost seems to have spent the last ten years writing prescient songs for today’s events. The first theme of water (including “Clocks”, “Swallowed in the Sea” and “Politik”) touched upon the Gulf Coast disaster. The country cycle (“Til Kingdom Come”, “Ring of Fire”, “Green Eyes”) paid tribute to the late Johnny Cash, fatalism, and the folk influence. The songs of the third theme of response (“Yellow”, “In My Place”, “Fix You”) are our calls to action.

Tears stream down on your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I–

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.

On many levels, and that I could share it with P-, this concert impressed me greatly.

The passing of Bob “Gilligan” Denver.

FOX’s new show, “Prison Break” continues to be a weird ride of a television show. And, actor Wentworth Miller is still a cutie. 😉 Oh, and his character is insane; one must really love one’s brother to be getting himself in such a stupid situation.

Interesting documentary on PBS’ “POV” – “The Hobart Shakespeareans” – wherein Los Angeles public school kids, of Hobart Elementary School, get into Shakespeare, which would inspire them in life and education. Feels like a great idea – if only every public school kid gets such a chance, or gets to have such an impressive teacher.

A beautiful Labor Day Monday in NYC.

John Grisham, lawyer-former Mississippi state legislator-novelist, is donating money to help his state.

Slate’s Jack Shafer did a nice job of making his list of complaints about the tv journalists’ coverage. I’d agree with a huge chunk of them (although, I have nothing to say about the FOX News coverage, since I don’t have FOX News and I otherwise avoid local FOX’s coverage as much as I can).

The sudden news of John Roberts’ appointment as Chief Justice. MSNBC posted the Associated Press article on this story. I’m withholding judgment on this; all I can say is that I’m surprised by the sudden development, or at least, surprised that the rumors of the president’s picking Roberts came true. One wonders what on earth is next.

Enjoy what’s left of this long weekend…

I edited my Saturday post, since there was a weird error on my reference to Slate’s Jack Shafer’s column on the race and class issues. Feel free to see the corrected post.

I do think that among the bright spots in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina is the spirit of generosity of universities welcoming students of Tulane and other Gulf region schools. Seeing it on the local news, that such local schools as Rutgers and even my undergraduate alma mater are helping out the local students who would have attended the Gulf region school this semester, made the reminder that maybe we local folks have our own regional tragedy in mind, considering how close we are to the anniversary of 9/11. Alma Mater put it best in its press release:

We in New York City know deeply and personally how difficult and painful a disaster of this magnitude is for the individuals and families experiencing it. As we reach out to help those affected by Katrina, we will do so in the same spirit of generosity and compassion that the nation showed New Yorkers following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

And, it also really got to me, for some reason, when through Law.com, I saw how this blogger is helping out the law schools of New Orleans. Then I read the generosity of spirit of these law school deans to invite the stranded students. The law field isn’t without its heart, it’s nice to see, to help those starting their careers stay on track in such dire times.

The local news report that NYPD police and MTA buses are being sent down to New Orleans to help. (well, the buses are apparently taking the cops down and then would help transport any other trapped New Orleanians).

Last, but not least, the sudden news: the passing of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. While we have long known that he was ill, it was sudden and, that it happened during sad times, makes things sadder. I may not have agreed with Ch.J. Rehnquist about some decisions or opinions, but I will acknowledge his passing and his place in history.

There’s this saying, “May we live in interesting times,” that has been attributed to the Chinese. Indeed we do live in interesting times.

I watched a lot of TV coverage today about the aftermath of Katrina — PBS, CNN and Fox News — to try to get a feel about what kind of spin is going on. The Newshour had the most comprehensive coverage, including an insightful analysis of the racial, political, and economic fallout. CNN had the best on-the-ground coverage. Their correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta had some video where he is on the roof of Charity General, where 200 critical patients are waiting for government choppers, while Tulane Medical across the street is evac-ing non-essential staff. The story inferred that the public charges were not prioritized. Fox had a sanguine view of the recovery. Much of the footage was a montage of wire shots rather than live coverage. What was puzzling was why the anchor needed to ask leading questions to the correspondents, rather than just letting the correspondents report their observations. The rawest blogging by the managers trying to keep up an ISP in the city, DirectNIC, was the most reliable in describing the true state on the ground. They are hoping to get a shipment of fuel for their generators by the end of the day tomorrow, or they’re sunk.

In terms of the meta-meta issue above the racial and economic issues, what does this do to our self-esteem as a nation? The social contract with our government? How secure should we feel?

We started receiving visiting law students from New Orleans today; a number will be staying with us for free at least for the next semester. The first one flew in last night, and all I could think about as she sat on the other side of my desk is that we were 10 minutes away from Ground Zero, and that we’re going to make sure they’re taken care of. That’s the least that we can do.

The coverage on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continues. On Wednesday night (being the news junkie and lacking any other tv alternative), I watched both the NBC Dateline and ABC News coverage.

Brian Williams anchored the Dateline edition – he carried it off well, looking tanned (he has been in the sun all day, obviously, toiling for the stories for coverage) and professional, in the Tom Brokaw tradition of Good Middle American in the Middle of an American Story. I don’t mean to downplay it, but it just felt a little awkward for me, as if the stories were a little too well crafted.

ABC had Elizabeth Vargas in front of a damaged inn in Mississippi. She did a nice job seguing between the taped portions (where ABC got personal, putting in the perspectives of Cokie Roberts and Robin Roberts, whose roots are in the Gulf coast; ABC especially put in a portion of Robin Roberts drove down through Mississippi on Tuesday to check on conditions and to check her family – it was touching to see the human side of Robin Roberts, as she broke down when Charles Gibson asked if she got through to her family) and the live portions (Vargas checking in on Chris Bury, sweating among the masses at New Orleans Superdome to get on buses for Houston’s Astrodome, the refugee location – why didn’t NBC get this scene in?). Ted Koppell on Nightline also did a nice job getting some insights on New Orleans from his panel (Cokie Roberts, Winton Marsalis, among others).

I don’t know – I’ve always been a bit partial to the ABC News presentations. They seem to capture the whole big picture better, as well as the human stories. Maybe it’s a continuation of the Peter Jennings professionalism?

I haven’t caught enough of CBS News’ coverage to comment, beyond what I saw on Sunday night and Monday morning – John Roberts taking over for Dan Rather? (wasn’t Dan the one who got almost swept away by Hurricane Andrew?).

Well, there’s just a lot of reporters converging on the human tragedy – it feels almost exploitive, but then is it just because this is the age we live in – we’re just going to have to live with the media madness? Or, without this coverage, would we know how to help our fellow humans, or at least better understand human nature (or Mother Nature for that matter)?

Some other stuff for observation:

Wednesday’s Village Voice did an article on hot dogs. I liked the PBS documentary on hot dogs, and this article reminded me of it, even with its NYC outlook.

And, Village Voice also did an article on the empowered NYC Asian and Middle Eastern voters. Jarrett Murphy reports, among other things:

The black-white-Hispanic-obsessed lingo aside, mayoral candidates in 2005 are hunting votes in neighborhoods where the signs might be in Arabic, Urdu, and Cantonese. “I think all the candidates are paying more attention to the Asian American vote—the existing Asian American vote as well as the fast-growing numbers of Asian American voters,” says City Councilman John Liu of Queens, where 50 percent of the city’s Asians live, composing 18 percent of the borough’s people.

Umm, wait, Mr. Murphy – there’s no such thing as signs in Cantonese. Cantonese’s written language is Chinese… Anyway, he further writes on the increasing recognition of the Asian voter:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign, meanwhile, boasts the backing of the Chinese-language Sing Tao newspaper, which the mayor’s campaign calls “the first-ever such endorsement in the paper’s 40-year history.” Bloomberg 2005 also has set up Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Bloomberg, a group headlined by a Korean from Long Island, an Indian American businessman from Queens, and a Pakistani dentist from Staten Island.

Ethnic labels are crude by definition: You’re black whether you just flew in from Senegal or are descended from slaves shipped to U.S. shores centuries ago. Latinos include light-skinned Cubans and Indian-blooded families from Ecuador. But the categories make some sense if common concerns affect the people they cover. And while Asian and Middle Eastern New Yorkers care about failing schools, high rent, rats, and all the usual urban woes, they also worry about things that other groups needn’t fear.

“There are lots of issues that Asian Americans share,” said Liu, “one being the immigrant experience, being relatively recent immigrant arrivals. And Asians also suffer from a perpetual- foreigner syndrome, meaning that you could be a fourth- or fifth-generation Asian American but still somehow it’s difficult to believe that you’re an American. I get that: First they compliment me on my ability to speak English, and often I get asked, ‘Well, where are you from?’ and for some reason people refuse to take Flushing for an answer.” [….]

Yeah, I love it when complete strangers walk up to me and complement me on my English, and ask me where I’m from (“no, really, where?”) or even the lovely “Are you Chinese?” (well, yes, but does it matter to you, pal?, especially when you too appear to be Chinese and seem a bit annoying for asking the question)… No, I mean, really, isn’t my Brooklyn accent a little on the obvious side as to where I’m from?

Ok, all kidding aside, I liked that this article got the important points from Councilman Liu and Assemblyman Jimmy Meng that the Asian voter population of NYC is itself diverse – ranging from difference in opinions on what important issues and class and even immigration status (more recent immigrants would have different priorities than more established ones; Asians in Flushing might have different concerns than those in Manhattan Chinatown or even in Brooklyn), such that a NYC politician of 2005 really needs to be savvy. Hmm. Food for thought.

Today is Malaysia’s National Day. Also, one year ago today, YC and B- were married. While I have to say a bus ride 500 miles north from Singapore was more pleasant than a Greyhound from New York to Toronto, it is still a grueling all-night marathon by crazy bus drivers punctuated by wading through border crossings and pit stops. Congrats and best of luck for safe travels!

Hmm – with the upcoming Congressional hearing on Judge John Roberts, one wonders what kind of questions will be asked of him and hope it’ll be done and over with a modicum of dignity and interest (and to end the whole speculating thing the media does so well). Bruce Reed, “The Has Been” on Slate (he’s a former Clintonite, and thus a “has been”), proposes the open-question tactic (see the 8/30/05 post in Reed’s blog):

At most, Senators have had a few weeks to prepare for Roberts. Roberts has spent 25 years preparing for them. So on all the obvious questions, Roberts has an overwhelming advantage.

But on screwball questions, that advantage disappears. The model for this line of questioning comes from the late Peter Jennings. In a televised debate during the 2004 primaries, Jennings asked John Edwards to “tell us what you know about the practice of Islam.” A thousand debate preps and murder boards could never have prepared Edwards for that question. It made for great television because neither the viewers at home nor the press corps had any idea what he would say, or even what he should say.

Under the circumstances, Edwards handled it well, admitting that “I would never claim to be an expert on Islam.” Roberts is famed for both erudition and modesty. Make him choose: Is there any topic on which he would say he’d “never claim to be an expert”?

Sure, no one prepares for the “Tell me what you know” question… (except I think Roberts might have something handy in his arsenal).

These pictures of the Gulf coast (New Orleans/Biloxi/etc) – they look so sad. “Devastation” is the word oft repeated. Best wishes out there.