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Anybody notice that more people are interested in the Lunar New Year this weekend? I don’t even see a whole lot of GW or Abe Lincoln anywhere, except for the new dollar coins being introduced this weekend. Metro, the newspaper, had a Lunar New Year front cover on Friday.

Rented a Zipcar minivan and got down to JFK to pick up AS and his family. AS’s son has turned into a mild-mannered physical comedian. After a little harassment from the rent-a-cops, we got loaded up and drove back to Battery Park City. We went to the Lighthouse for drinks afterwards, followed by a late night stop-off at White Castle.

The next day I had dinner with P’s family at Jing Fong on Elizabeth St. Wasn’t bad – see pictures on the flickr bar.

More eating Sunday – Happy New Year!

The cold and the snowish mixture (it’s not quite snow; it’s more like icier slush) and the strange Presidents’ Day tv commercials haven’t really made me in the mood for the Year of the Pig.

Argh – missed Thursday’s episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” and ABC opted NOT to re-run it on Friday night (instead, choosing to rerun the Super Bowl 2006 episode of Grey’s Anatomy – wherein Bomb Squad Guy kicked the bucket, among other things). Following up on the episode reviews on-line, it sounded like a major cool episode – at the least, the return of Bomb Squad Guy, and Denny the Sick Guy – since Meredith is – clinically, anyway – dead and paying a visit to the afterlife. Not sure what it may mean (I mean, how would it be “Grey’s Anatomy” if Grey isn’t on the show?) – but it just sounded cool. Bomb Squad Guy – played by the always watchable Kyle Chandler – ooh…

Plus, there’s a scene Cristina, who had wavered in telling Meredith about her engagement, had to tell her fiance, Burke, that she is upset about having not gotten to tell Meredith about the engagement – because Meredith’s her “person.” Can’t believe I missed that, of all things – there may be fans out there who dislike Meredith’s wishy-washy-ness or Cristina’s bitchiness, but their bond as best friends has been something I’ve always liked. Meredith had been there for Cristina, volunteering to be Cristina’s “person” (in the episode where Cristina needed someone to be with her as she decided what to do for her surprise pregnancy) – so it’s only fair that Cristina be there for Meredith. Unclear if Burke gets that about Meredith and Cristina (does he have friends? He kind of tried to befriend McDreamy, but I don’t think they’ve made it to the level of friends yet).

The passing of the Co-Inventor of the tv remote control. Considering how much I use the tv remote control, I’ll salute this guy.

I’ve updated the software that runs triscribe to WordPress 2.1. This did zero to the public face of things, but made a few nice changes to the back end. This includes wysiwyg editing, auto save (no losing your typing if you hit the backspace key), and picture uploading on the same page as the edit. All cool stuff.

Photos on the flickr strip right now are a trip to City Island for famed seafood restaurant Sammy’s Fish Box. Why go to Red Lobster, when for the same price you can get the finest seafood money can buy in New York. We all got various combo plates, which we could only eat half of. P and I took our leftovers and made seafood fra diabolo the next day – two meals out of one dish. Recommended.

Chinese New Year this weekend, and our friend AS and family flies in tomorrow night. It’s going to be below 20 degrees F for the next couple of days. Brrrr!

Harvard becomes the 4th Ivy League school to have a woman president: Drew Gilpin Faust. Dr. Faust was interviewed on Lehrer’s Newshour on Monday night – and she noted that her being a historian is a plus. The journey toward the future continues.

Of course, I shall not be speaking for my undergraduate Alma Mater University; but I have to believe that one day, we too will have a woman president, sure. But, diversity in academia is still a work in progress.

Monday: I’m a bit behind on “Heroes,” having taped it and then just watched fleetingly by fast-forwarding through the storylines that I didn’t really care for (not that they’re bad storylines; they’re just not on my radar for the time being). Of note:
Hiro and Ando, the time-space bending guy and his sidekick, had a weird situation, now that they’re back in Las Vegas – but it was kind of a weak matter for them (if anything, Ando learns that falling for tall blondes may be dangerous for his and Hiro’s health).
I really find the Claire the Cheerleader storyline to be sincere and poignant – so she finds her bio-mom; bio-mom lacks some morals (well, if you go with the white trailer-park trash stereotype, hmm – surely there’s more to Meredith than that – and no, I hope she’s not Evil either); her bio-dad doesn’t want to meet her (or at least he says he doesn’t – but he’s clearly torn, because maybe he actually is a decent guy – still can’t be sure, because he’s a lawyer (oops) and a politician dealing with the final leg of his campaign (more oops)); her adopted dad – Glasses Man – well, he’s not terribly understanding toward her these days (no, not when he had let loose the Big Evil Mutant Man); and her adopted mom is suffering from severe memory loss (no thanks to Glasses Man’s mind-erasing Haitian sidekick, who erased Mrs. Bennett’s mind because Glasses Man thinks that’s the way to protect his family; yeah, right).

NBC’s sneak previews of the next episode of “Heroes” was irritating for hinting a little too obviously about who will die next. At least, I’m making my guess about Mrs. Bennett’s fate; I could be wrong. But, then again, I wasn’t surprised about who turned out to be Claire’s bio-dad; NBC has really got to avoid assigning the previews to the Promotions department – you’re not supposed to give away too much!
Also behind on “House” – got home too late, but managed to catch the end of Tuesday’s episode. House is still a basket-case jerk. I don’t believe him when he thinks he’ll find a way to end his pain (the physical pain; God only knows if his emotional pain will ever heal) – in the end, he uses his pain to define him and let him do what he will.

I liked that the episode made the three younger doctors a little interesting again – Foreman wonders if a doctor’s life really has room for a love life (umm, well, first, don’t take lessons from Dr. House about that). Cameron seems to be more willing to satisfy her physical needs rather than her desire for love – so she targets Chase. Chase, who once again proves why he’s a seminary school dropout, doesn’t seem too bothered that Cameron wants to have sex with him with no strings attached (mind you, they did that last season and she was foolish and vulnerable and he was – well – a fool (although he still strikes me as a guy who would find a way to make strings attach)). In real life, the actors who play Chase and Cameron are apparently engaged to each other – so it’s amusing.

However, FOX’s previews indicate that Cameron still has a fondness for House, though; sigh – get over him, Cameron!
See if snow will be anything at all in NYC; likely just a slippery mess. We are so not Oswego or anywhere upstate with the 10ft of snow…

Pardon the absence; life got in the way…!

Wed., Feb. 7, 2007 – attended a CLE seminar at the last minute at the City Bar – on “Blogs – Wave of the Future for the American Lawyer: Creation, Use, & Ethical Considerations.” Interesting – one of those programs that didn’t put me to sleep (uh, no, no, that never happens…) – three lawyers who blog about their subjects or about lawyers who blog. Kevin O’Keefe, Daniel Clement, and Troy Rosasco were the panelists.

According to O’Keefe, lawyer blogs, being specific to a legal subject, are “not advertising. Basis being that their primary purpose is not ‘the retention of the lawyer or law firm’” – and may be protected by Free Speech rights.  Kind of a relief to know!

The program was very fascinating stuff. Observations were made on the idea of lawyer blogs as networking or an easy way to get oneself published (as alternatives to law review and law journals).  I doubt we of Triscribe count under the state’s advertising restrictions, since we don’t advertise legal services. We just comment and, more often than not, we don’t even about the law. Personal blogging is all fine and dandy. Blogging, if nothing else, made us all Time People of the Year! Talk about societal change and being part of the wave of the future indeed.

Reading for last week: Arthur Miller’s The Crucible – gripping. I remembered reading it back in high school, and thinking it was creepy. Now with the outlook as adult and a lawyer – still creepy. The book managed to make me miss my subway stop.

How gripping it was – the Salem witch hunts going out of control and all the implications therein – the very harmfulness of theocracy; the rational mind losing out to the human flaws of jealousy, pride, and lust; the problem of witnesses with poor credibility – children or young women who had no power and then grabbing power by making the judges and the authorities listen to them.

Were they really possessed, or were they just playing with everyone? Abigail Williams pushing it too far by sending the Proctors to their doom; Mary Warren too weak-willed to resist; and John Proctor – poor man who wouldn’t give names, because the process was wrong. People believed in witches – and the way the girls were acting, how do you fight the irrational? The rule of law is nice, but what do you do when people are still… people?
This may have been associated with Miller’s times – the McCarthy witch hunts – but it was more than that – it’s timeless. The writing was great; as a movie or play – sure, that was nice (go ahead – watch the movie: the strangeness of seeing Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor – or, scarier – Wynona Ryder as Abigail), but there’s something of a difference in having the text itself.

A society in hysteria, Miller portrays and then there’s what we have these days: well, the whole Anna Nicole Smith thing – someone who invented herself for the media, and the media exploits back. It’s also wrong to compare Anna Nicole Smith to Miller’s ex-wife, Marilyn Monroe – Monroe actually had talent in acting. (umm, forgive me for noticing this about the dead). As Prof. Joanna Grossman notes on her Findlaw column: Smith’s “litigious life makes her unusual as well. Lawyers, courts, and perhaps juries will now be left to sort out the legal morass she left behind.” Ain’t that right. As FC notes: Smith’s litigious legacy is quite a bar exam question. 😀

Last but not least on a week in review: the passing of actor Ian Richardson.

Recap of the extended weekend:
Saturday – dental cleaning followed by a visit to the storied pizzeria that is Di Fara in Midwood. P, her brother and I were waiting in the Duncan Donuts down the block because it was really cold, but there were 5 true believers waiting outside the door. It opened 20 minutes late, at 10 to 12, but it didn’t matter – it’s definately slow food – there’s no way you get out of Di Fara’s in under 45 minutes. After a false start with everyone’s glasses fogged up, we managed to order a special pie, and 2 square slices. The squares were magnificant – light yet voluminous, a tangy sauce fortified with cheese and prosciutto (I am told), topped with fresh basil cut directly above the slices, then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Bold and delicate at the same time, it was an amazing treat.

Then the special pie came out after 40 minutes. The crust is micro thin (less than 2 mm thick) yet still durable enough to support the cornucopia of cow’s milk mozzarella, buffalo milk mozzarella, sausage, peppers, more basil, and grated cheese. Not quite foldable, but still delectable. Recommended if you have a spare afternoon.

Tonight I’m coming down with a cold. I’m going to try to brave it out.

Much, much pre-game coverage on Sunday. I mean, really – CBS had a show at NOON. Yeesh.

Ultimately, though, kudos to Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning, and the rest of the Colts. Quite a game. Really scary for a moment there when the Bears came ahead in the first 10 seconds, but then the Colts hanged in there. Sorry, Lovee Smith and the Bears – your Bad Rex Grossman as QB wasn’t quite it, and the Colts knew more of what they were doing.

Bears, maybe another time – I’m sure Smith can become the 2nd African-American coach to win the Super Bowl, next time. But, it was Dungy’s night – the teacher beating the protege; plus it was Peyton’s night, as he was a QB whose Super Bowl was long in coming.

The rain was a downer – lots of instances where the ball just slipped through fingers – but made it even between the teams. Well, not like I really know about football anyway – just my impressions.

Re: The half-time show – Prince was cool. Interesting way to grab the generations of music/football fans. I thought he’d sing more of his classics, but he made it a cool rock thing. I don’t think he much cared for the rain (who would?) – but he seemed to be enjoying the gig otherwise. No wardrobe malfunction, no weirdness (I mean, really – he is the guy who once insisted on being “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” and I guess he’s now “Prince, The Artist Who Was Once The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” and not to mention that he hasn’t given up his – um – symbol (or logo?)). Almost tame, really. Well, okay, I think the marching band was quite a touch, but hey, it was a football game – why not have one? Prince’s guitar riffs were cool, too. Can’t believe he’s gone… dare I say – mainstream? Liked the NY Times’ take on the performance too.

Re: Super Bowl ads – I wasn’t quite that attentive; the ads just didn’t come off feeling as good as they used to be.

I liked the Coke ads – quality stuff, even if not taking risks.

The ad with Kevin Federline (the ex-Mr. Britney Spears) was pointless – it wasn’t so much that he was slamming people who work McDonald’s jobs – it was that the ad was for Nationwide and did nothing for me as a promotion for the product.

The CareerBuilder.com ads – wherein the office/real world is compared to being in a jungle – a jungle you don’t want to be in – good stuff, really – they made me want to click on CareerBuilder.com and – oh, wait, I did register for CareerBuilder.com – and it hasn’t yet gotten me a new job. Oh well. Their ads were funny, as opposed to GoDaddy.com, where the sexy girls were uninteresting (true, I’m not the target for GoDaddy’s “sexy” ad, but I find gratuitous attractions to be simply that – gratuitous; I still don’t care to see what Godaddy.com does).

The Chevrolet ad where people were singing songs that had the word “Chevy” or related reference – interesting – though it reminded me of a Coke ad where the lady was singing a song and handing people Cokes. But, the Chevy singers sure loved their Chevies.

The Blockbuster commercial had the return of the animated pet store animals – trying to use a fellow pet store animal – a mouse no less – in lieu of a computer’s mouse to access Blockbuster’s services… – well, while I did feel sorry for the animated mouse, who didn’t enjoyed being dragged in the sawdust, I thought the ad was funny and cute (and sure hope nobody uses real mice in that manner).

The commercial in the style of Japanese action stuff (kind of like Power Rangers and Voltron and that lot) – well, I have no idea what that ad was promoting, but it was a great parody.

The GM ad with the factory machine that felt sorry for itself … ok, in light of how real people in the automotive industry are losing their jobs – I didn’t care for the GM commercial, even if it was cute.

The CBS promos for its series (Letterman; “How I Met Your Mother”; “The Class”; “Two and a Half Men”; even Craig Ferguson’s show) – funny! Laughed when I realized Craig Ferguson was parodying the old Benny Hill gag of running along with the pretty girls and patting a bald guy on the head.
I didn’t watch “Criminal Minds” after the game – wasn’t that interested. It’s a series with some charm and suspense, but it’s weird to see Mandy Patankin not sing and him back with Thomas Gibson (ex-Greg of “Dharma and Greg” and, like Patankin, an ex-castmate of “Chicago Hope”) along side Shemar Moore (ex-Young and the Restless actor and actor of many cancelled tv shows), and other actors who probably belonged on something like NCIS or CSI but wound up on this show. Hmm. Oh, well. It’s good for viewers out there.

Oh – and other stuff –>
Fascinating story on how the Jewish community of Cuba managed to continue.

A story – a recipe – on General Tso’s chicken and Hunanese cuisine.