Triscribe

Category: Manhattan

  • Old Fulton Fish Market

    100_1960a

    100_1960a,
    originally uploaded by triscribe.

    Still working on the Hawaii summary, however on Sunday I took pictures of the the remnants of the old Fulton Fish Market, which closed Saturday to move to Hunts Point in the Bronx. They’re still taking old signs down, and baiting the whole place for rats. It will probably be a biohazard for at least a few months.

  • Monday

    I checked out the National Museum of the American Indian, at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, at Bowling Green, downtown Manhattan, to see George Catlin’s American Indian paintings exhibit before it leaves on 9/5/05. Fascinating stuff – beautiful colors; he captured a time of American life (1820’s-1850’s) and tried to get past the view of American Indians as “savages” (although it’s debatable whether the Catlin’s portrayal of the sterotype of noble warrior was any better).

    I watched the series premiere of “Prisonbreak,” the new show on FOX, wherein Michael Scofield (played by Wentworth Miller, a cutie, if I may say so) gets himself into prison to get his brother, Lincoln Burrows (played by Dominic Purcell), out. Lincoln has been accused of assasinating the brother of the U.S. Vice President, and is on death row (and running out of appeals). There’s the obligatory conspiracy theory (Lincoln was set up; by who and why is a gigantic question mark). Michael, a civil engineer whose firm designed the prison, has a complex plan, but in the meantime, we get introduced to the other folks in the prison and their problems (not nearly as interesting).

    I don’t know what to make of the show’s chances. Episode 1 was gripping, Episode 2 (played in the second hour; FOX is trying to get an audience) was a little boring (I can only take so much about Michael’s cell mate’s girlfriend problems). You have to turn your brain off about the plotholes, the unlikelihood of the premise, and the “Shawshank Redemption” resemblance. I guess the interesting stuff is in the characters. But, Purcell’s very presence makes me worry (he previously played “John Doe” on FOX’s “John Doe,” which got cancelled before the show ever got to reveal who was “John” supposed to be (an alien? a mutant human from the future? huh?) – so already Purcell’s American tv track record doesn’t look too great). Plus, shows that premiere first in the fall season haven’t had great track records in getting renewed for a second season. But, let’s see how the next episode will turn out; quite a cliffhanger. If it’s a good enough show, then maybe the question of renewal can be explored later.

    Alessandra Stanley of the NY Times has an interesting review on “Prisonbreak.” She observes the show’s resemblance to FOX’s “24,” and that Veronica, Lincoln’s ex-girlfriend and the lawyer who represents Michael, isn’t the brightest lawyer in the world:

    Michael and Lincoln have at least one ally on the outside. Lincoln’s ex-girlfriend, Veronica Donovan (Robin Tunney), is a lawyer who represented Michael in his bank robbery case. She too wants to believe that Lincoln was framed, and tries to investigate his case on her own. She practices real estate law, however, and is a bit slow-witted when it comes to anticipating the risks of looking into a government conspiracy. It could be that she is just distracted by her fiancé, an investment banker pressing her to set a date for the wedding.

    Ok, so she isn’t a criminal defense attorney, which may explain why she isn’t quick on the up take on getting the brothers’ playing straight and legal. Coincidentally (or not – maybe FOX was the connection) – Robin Tunney and Dominic Purcell have played characters on FOX’s “House, M.D.” (Tunney played the kindergarten teacher patient suffering from really bad food poisoning, Episode 1; Purcell played the husband with the adulterous wife suffering from sleeping sickness). Tunney and Purcell lack a little chemistry, from what little scenes they have together; maybe more chemistry remains to be seen.

    Another humid week in NYC. And, New Orleans still stands, but it looks like a mess. It’s no prettier in Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina moves on.

  • Sunny Saturday

    Suffice it to say – I’m at Alma Mater as I write this, for Dean’s Day (wherein we enjoy some lectures and stuff) — lunch – sooo good. Chicken, nicely spiced and perhaps roasted – atop of a bed of wild rice and shredded squash – mmm. Plus, tiramisu — mmm. Alma Mater’s really did nice.

    Oh, and again – the one thing I miss about college/higher education – the easy access to Internet/e-mail.

    Well, more importantly, the weather’s beautiful. So nice. Sun. A little brisk, but sun…

    I may post again later. Or I may just want to frolic in the sun…

  • Good Eats

    P– called at 6 PM on Thursday saying that Alton Brown is having a book signing at the Union Square B&N for his new book, I’m Just Here for More Food (link to a competing bookseller). My night was free, so I hopped on the next train there. She doesn’t really get the phenomenon that is Good Eats, but then again, she doesn’t get the Food Network. She only gets it when I explain that he knows how to make cream puffs and granitas. As AB puts it, he’s not a chef, but the world’s grooviest home economics teacher. He really is that good. In additional news, Food Network has renewed Iron Chef America with Brown as the host for another 10 episodes. Of course, I bought a book.

    [Alton Brown] [Us]

  • Things for free food

    The wierd things that I do for free food… in the past two weeks, I’ve worn suits and academic gowns for buffet. Stood on stage at Lincoln Center for Chinese food. Rode in a car for chicken. Now I’m doing desktop publishing for Korean food. I guess I must be crazy.

  • Posting Madness

    Gosh, looks like we’re all obsessed lately, posting so much! (good reading otherwise….).

    It has been that long since Tiananmen Sq? Ah, demonstrating that I’m much too young compared to the rest of you folks, dearest honored and respected elders! (but, seriously, I wonder if events really are cyclical, and with Hong Kong in a status different than it was so many years ago, would status quo remain or real change occur? The history student in me doesn’t expect change; the naive optimist in me does. Go figure.)

    Updates:

    On the side of too-personal-for-my-own-good-info – my dental appointment is actually Sunday, not Saturday (but brushing my teeth this morning, I just know that Dr. X is going to give me the lecture…). So, my reunion events can otherwise continue nicely and, again, thanks to a university that has internet access terminals, I can blog at this moment and check e-mail – yea to universities, the folks who are leading us technologically to the 21st century (may we someday all have free public internet access terminals near us (umm, no, not likely)) – then again, I paid tuition and loans and nominal donations, so why not take advantage of internet access when I can while I’m in campus?

    Other update – almost a miracle that I woke up this morning and went uptown to this morning’s events – despite being exhausted from last night. Hallelujah!

    Rant of the day: I know subway service sucks during the weekend, but late night service really really sucks (pardon my language, but “sucks” is mild, compared to other word selections). I could have sworn that NYC was a 24-hour town, but MTA takes the whole service-downtime way too seriously, with subway frequency coming every 20 to 30 minutes – making the rush hour frequency of every 3 to 5 minutes that much more treasured, I so do swear – and making my otherwise 1 hour trip into a 2 hour one last night (blech).

    Besides Tianamen (I know I’m botching the spelling; I will edit later), there’s also the 60th anniversary of D-Day tomorrow. Interpret the anniversaries any way you like; food for thought is good for you – no calories consumed; mental energy consumed accordingly…

  • Reunion

    I’m currently at Alma Mater to attend reunion events, but should have realized that my Saturday reunion plans are about to be de-railed by a dental appointment that I should have known was going to mess me up – so I should cancel, if I’ve any sense (and, likely I don’t). The weather’s nice, I’m on vacation, I ought to relax, but I’m not very good at it. Ugh. (I must be obsessed about blogging if I’m doing it right now, but the beauty of being on campus is the incredibly easy access to internet terminals; and it’s not like I’d blog from my computer at work).

    There were links I meant to link to, since the Times had one or two interesting articles. Rather surprised by CIA Director George Tenet’s sudden resignation, but shouldn’t have been. Read a Vanity Fair article on Bill Clinton’s post-presidential life (good grief, was my reaction) and am not eagerly awaiting his book. Etc.

    Back to trying to relax.

  • “The exodus is about to begin…”

    “The exodus is about to begin,” noted Jim Watkins, the WB 11 news anchorman (aka Kaity Tong’s co-anchor), while he introduced the tonight’s news segment on Memorial Day/summer driving trips. Yep, that’s right, it’ll be Friday of the Memorial Day weekend and people are off on vacation. Silly me, I have to go to work tomorrow. Eh.

    “For Some, the Blogging Never Stops” – NY Times’ article in today’s technology section – there are people out there who are serious blogging addicts, but are without mass audiences. The writer, Katie Hafner, notes:

    Blogging is a pastime for many, even a livelihood for a few. For some, it becomes an obsession. Such bloggers often feel compelled to write several times daily and feel anxious if they don’t keep up. As they spend more time hunkered over their computers, they neglect family, friends and jobs. They blog at home, at work and on the road. They blog openly or sometimes… quietly so as not to call attention to their habit.

    Hafner further notes:

    Sometimes, too, the realization that no one is reading sets in. A few blogs have thousands of readers, but never have so many people written so much to be read by so few. By Jupiter Research’s estimate, only 4 percent of online users read blogs.

    Indeed, if a blog is likened to a conversation between a writer and readers, bloggers… are having conversations largely with themselves.

    The crazy bloggers let it consume them; then there are those who do get around to get back to life, but then feel guilty because the blog goes blah. Okay. Sure.

    Personally, I think I know how to restrain myself and I don’t mind not having mass audiences. Really. Maybe. Hopefully? Eh. I’m a sucker for writing and reading, so I’ve come to appreciate blogging as a hobby. Then, once in awhile, I come across something like this article: lawyers who blog, thinking that’ll get them their next job. The Law.com article notes:

    Forget want ads and recruiters. Bruce MacEwen has a new approach to job hunting: blogging.

    Last month, MacEwen, a lawyer and legal consultant based in New York City, launched his own Web log….

    “My motive is to increase my visibility among people interested in the management of big firms,” said MacEwen, who hopes one day to be an executive director at an AmLaw 100 firm.

    Yeah, right. That’s just like saying, “All you need is a dollar and a dream,” isn’t it? If it works, let me know; I’d like to be a general counsel for a nice, public-interest minded-but-for-profit corporation and make six digits and then buy a bridge that’s between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Besides, the law professors who blog appear to have pretty successful blogs, from what I can tell, but I’d imagine that it’s because they’re profs (therefore slightly perceived as more expert than mere associates about that thing called “The Law”) and they’ve time to read everything (they’re profs – their job is to read because that’s the academic thing to do) and comment about anything (because that’s what they do all day in their classrooms and don’t a bunch of the law students out there get a hold of their profs on-line these days – of all people who have easy access to the Internet, it’s those in academia). Well, just my two cents; I could be wrong.

    “Joan of Arcadia” – such a good show. I was watching the rerun tonight, and thought it was nice. When a show’s rerun is watchable when it’s a rerun, it’s a good sign that it’s a show for the long haul. Kudos for CBS for renewing it for next season.

    “Star Trek: Enterprise” – season finale (a season finale because UPN mercifully gave the series a reprieve and let it continue for next year) – was 90% good. The last five minutes made me want to throw a shoe at the tv screen; the Star Trek writers just had to come up with a Really Ridiculous Cliffhanger ™. Argh. Just when you had all that nice suspense; big-blow-’em-up moments; and poignant character moments, you get Really Ridiculous Cliffhanger ™. Ah well. Kudos that Linda Park (playing communications officer Ensign Hoshi Sato) got good screen time and acted so well. Hoshi was such a sad character to watch (like, Captain Archer, could you just put more pressure on her to decode the codes when she’s psychologically barely holding herself together after being tortured by the Bad Guys? – and for those who didn’t get it, that was sarcasm on my part). Anyway, if you missed the season finale and forgot to tape it, feel free to catch the weekend re-broadcast in your region. Like I said, 90% good!

    Hmm. I made two APA references (not that I was really counting). Pretty good there – and APA heritage month is wrapping up. So it goes…