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I’m writing from the new bedroom — actually the old bedroom nee walkin closet. P’s bed just barely fit in the back end of the room, and I have my computer now installed in a computer desk that is so much better than the old setup. Boxes are still piled wall to ceiling, but at least paths of travel are now making themselves known.

Had lunch with YC yesterday. His mom did ok, and is returning to NJ to continue rehab. Sprouted about a number of new tech, including iSCSI – which let you hook up hard drives virtually to your computer through the network; Asterisk, which is a do it yourself open source phone PBX system, and CentOS, which is a free clone of the Red Hat Enterprise Linux system.

The other thing we tossed around was trying to do a podcast using Skype along the lines of a roundtable talk-show format. Let’s see what happens.

Tomorrow: starting to get the kitchen and living room together….

P’s finally moving out/in today. I’m going to miss the place that she has been in Sheepshead Bay — it’s really a nice neighborhood in a quiet location. Made two runs with the Zipcar (the Toyota Matrix is a great car for cargo).

YC’s mom is going for surgery today, so we’re praying that everything works out well.

Busy weekend. Saw Star Wars 3 on Friday night in digital projection. It really makes a big difference. Trying to say this in a non-spoiler way, but things could have been so different if just Sam Jackson would just let Anikin just tag along — or to put it in another way, Anikin just has no business pulling off a temper tantrum. In any case, the special effects were just wonderful. In the light saber battles, the digital camera’s light beams would make their glows extend into the audience. Wow!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, we were refinishing the wood floor of my apartment. The previous tenant spilt latex paint all over the floor, and back in 1999, there was no tech that could remove it. Today, several companies sell products that can soften latex paint, which work really well after scrubbing. After the floors were cleaned off, a polyurothane product called Renewal really improved the sorry condition of the floor into a rich reddish brown. Really amazing!

So – Star Wars – Obi-Wan Kenobi is the man, even if Episode III isn’t the happy movie (no, you’d have to watch IV and VI for the happy stuff). I’ll say it again, if necessary (don’t mind me, I ended up watching Episode II: Attack of the Clones on FOX tonight, and I still saw Ewan MacGregor with the best acting out of the entire cast, able to rise above George Lucas’ lame lines). Anyway, I do recommend watching Episode III if you’ve watched the previous five movies; get some closure, you know.

Enterprise rant time – ok, I might as well admit it – the next to last episode, “Terra Prime” is the true “Enterprise” series finale – the entire cast had lines and acted decently; Capt. Archer had the right speech, and T’Pol and Tucker had something that resembled resolution in their relationship. The xenophobic faction on Earth tried to derail the foundations of the Federation (intergalactic cooperation and all that good stuff), they violated Tucker and T’Pol’s privacy by stealing their genes and creating a hybrid child doomed to die. Tucker’s quite a character and even T’Pol proved capable.

But, the series finale “These are the Voyages” – look, I loved seeing the Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Enterprise again, but Jonathan Frakes (Riker) and Marina Siritis (Troi) were ten years too old to be playing their characters dating from a 10-year old episode of Next Generation (and, while a fascinating episode, it wasn’t an episode I’d pick as pivotal to be an Enterprise episode). And, while I always wanted to see an episode taking place in the 24th century (contemporary) Trek reflecting on Archer’s time period, it wasn’t terribly fair to be a series finale episode. And, of course, saying goodbye to Tucker, probably one of my favorite characters on the show… Well, the episode’s on again this Friday or Saturday, so fans get to pick at it again.

Finished reading “Ex Machina,” by Christopher L. Bennett – good Star Trek reading. It’s a sort-of sequel to “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” – and reflects on the legacy of the departed Capt. Decker and other consequences of that movie. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy at their best and worst, I say, as they try to figure out how to help this unstable society. Sulu gets comfortable with the command chair (now I see why fans get all convinced he’ll be a great captain; while I still don’t quite see the greatness in Sulu, I see how he has potential). Chekov is Chekov (I see his new maturity; but he’s not one of my favorite Original Trek characters). Greater insight into Uhura (which can be accredited to the expansion of the status of the communications officer in “Enterprise” and the character of Hoshi Sato). Oh, and Scotty doing a little engineering (giving the command chair man a conservative time limitation and you’ll come out looking like a genius if you can get things done in half the time). Thumbs up.

Another work week…

“Star Wars: Episode III” – saw it last night. Two words (for now): Ewan MacGregor. He’s quite an actor. Oh, and cute too. 😉

Saw “The Interpreter” today. Good movie. Beautifully weaving in NYC and the United Nations. Sean Penn is a great actor. Nicole Kidman – ok, she’s pretty good too.

I actually watched “CSI: NY” today (a Saturday showing, since CBS apparently has nothing to show on Saturday nights). Very interesting stuff. (although, not terribly accurate – I’ve heard that in NYC, we don’t have Crime Scene Investigators but the unit’s called something else; plus this episode actually has Melina Kanakaredes’ character making a reference to “Bowery Street”?! Who calls it “Bowery Street” – it’s just “Bowery” – are they just trying to make the out-of-towners feel good?). I like Gary Sinise – he’s a good actor (but I get the feeling he’d like to do more than just the usual CSI-procedures-and-morbidity stuff). Is it just me or did his character and Kanakaredes’ character have some kind of chemistry? (well, I certainly see chemistry in the original CSI characters of Grissom and Willow).

I’d watch original CSI once in a while (Grissom’s cool, and a character); and I’d watch CSI: NY (Gary Sinise!), but I cannot get myself to care for CSI: Miami. Everytime I see David Caruso, I see the ex-NYPD Blue man who’s pasty paleness just doesn’t jar well in Miami. Maybe it’s me. Oh well.

I still have to catch up on “Alias” episodes, but I did catch the major two hour episode on Wednesday night – yeah! Kick-ass “Alias” style – the return of Lena Olin, the actress who plays Secret Agent Sydney’s morally ambiguous mom, Irina. Sydney’s dad, Jack, gets to crumble. The season finale’s going to be crazy!

I’m still refraining from blogging a rant about the series finale of “Enterprise.” Oh, but it’ll be there soon…

I did the 5k race today……. more exactly quickly walked it. It went to all four courners of Prospect Park along Olmstead’s famously curvey road. The main pack broke away out of sight in the first 10 minutes, and a coworker from the 2nd floor and I made up the vanguard of whatever you call the opposite of the vanguard. It was a very nice walk — we crossed the finish line 2 seconds over 50 minutes.

I haven’t been able to see all of the final episodes of Enterprise, but I’m really down on the Dallas ending — like JR’s dream, Enterprise turns out to be Riker’s holograph fantasy. Why don’t I dress up like a chef and have all of the cast members do my bidding in the kitchen? Done.

This past weekend at the alumni weekend, I met a host of journalists with an affiliation with my university. Ray Suarez from the PBS NewsHour, Pete Hamil from the Post and the News, and Lynda Vaquero, the WNBC news anchor. An interesting theme is the myth of heroism. Hamil says a society should not depend on heroes. Suarez and Vaquero named a number of them.

I like how this time of year the tv networks try to get viewers and the advertisers excited with the previews. But, then comes the feeling of disappointment.

WB has reportedly cancelled “Jack and Bobby.” Argh.

Hmm. I do not know what to make of ABC’s fall preview – it’s sort of pushing the whole “Desperate Housewives” thing. But, nice to see “Grey’s Anatomy” being renewed.

NBC – I think it needs help. Badly. Their new shows don’t sound very good: ex., “Fathom” – wherein the cast investigates sea creatures. Umm. Ok…

I still don’t feel right about “Enterprise.” Apparently, the ratings of the last episodes were up – ironic? People watching the last of Star Trek, to bear witness.

Oh well.

The infamous bar review company, Barbri, has gotten itself in trouble out in California. People in California could actually get a refund from Barbri for Barbri’s alleged monopoly of the bar review market (or, at least, to the extent that it allegedly made a deal with Kaplan, that other test prep organization, to squeeze anyone else from entering the test prep industry – as if Kaplan’s this poor helpless organization):

Central District of California complaint states that the alleged agreement between Kaplan and BAR/BRI amounts to a per se unlawful market division to preserve BAR/BRI’s alleged monopoly on full-service bar review courses. The named plaintiffs, Ryan Rodriguez and Reena B. Frailich, are both Los Angeles lawyers. The lawsuit claims BAR/BRI students were overcharged about $300 million since August 1997, and seeks treble damages. Rodriguez v. West Publishing Corp., No. CV 053222R (NCx).

After Kaplan withdrew the offer to purchase West Bar Review, West Publishing sold West Bar’s assets to BAR/BRI. Then BAR/BRI was able to raise the price of its courses substantially, according to the complaint. In 2001, West Publishing re-entered the bar review business by purchasing BAR/BRI.

A spokesperson for West Publishing says the case is without merit, and the communications director of Kaplan Inc. made a similar statement.

Information for the complaint came from people then associated with both companies, says the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Eliot G. Disner.

“There are a lot of eyes and ears in the bar-review business—spurned suitors, former employees, competitors,” says Disner, who practices in Santa Monica, Calif. “I’m not going to say who told me everything, but it’s fair to say it’s a combination of people who put this together.”

If the case is successful, Disner estimates plaintiffs will receive approximately $1,000 apiece, depending on how much they paid for the BAR/BRI course.

“My goal is to get the [BAR/BRI] company broken up,” Disner says. “Over the years, there’s been a number of people interested in the bar business—it’s very lucrative—but BAR/BRI has done a very good job at keeping them out, I think illegally at some times.”

The lawsuit marks the second time Disner has filed a case against BAR/BRI. Previously he represented Bar Passers, a California business that was ultimately acquired by West.

“A pattern, on BAR/BRI’s part, is doing whatever it takes to keep control of the bar review market,” he says.

Others aren’t so sure.

“The sort of thing alleged here is textbook per se illegal stuff,” says J. Manly Parks, a Philadelphia antitrust lawyer. Plaintiffs’ witnesses, he adds, may have some baggage, but he doesn’t see that as a hurdle.

“If they’ve got a witness saying there was such an agreement, and the other side says, ‘No, there wasn’t,’ if that’s the key issue in the case, it’s going to trial.”

The government or competitors, not consumers, usually challenge such mergers, says Washington, D.C., lawyer Joel A. Christie.

“They’re basically asking for the court to order the creation of a separate and independent competitor, and I would characterize that as a very big stretch,” says Christie, who previously worked in the Justice Department’s antitrust division.

Hmm.

Today’s “Doonesbury” – May 16, 2005 – slight error by Garry Trudeau!
The character B.D., the veteran of the War in Iraq and who lost his leg, tells his daughter that he has to return to the hospital to check out his new prosthetic leg.

“You’re going back to the hospital again, Daddy?”
“Last time. At least, I hope so, Alex,” says B.D.

Umm, B.D. – I could have sworn that your daughter’s Sam (as in Samantha). 😉 “Alex” is the name of Mike Doonesbury’s daughter and she’s currently being recruited by the US Army for the war (much against Doonesbury’s stern objections).

Ah, that Trudeau. He’s quite a prolific cartoonist – years and years of “Doonesbury”‘s – and he forgets a character’s name… oops… 😉 Well, lots of characters, so it’s hard to keep track. Plus, it can get confusing, as B.D. and Mike both have daughters. But, really, Trudeau. Did the office intern/penciller mess it up this time? We Doonesbury readers deserve an apology! (tee-hee). Nah. Catching such a mistake was a laugh.

NBC previews next season – “Scrubs” is put off until mid-season?! Jerks!

Until tomorrow…