Blog

[Ed. note: Watch the advertisement at the AT&T reachout website]

AT& T Wireless’ latest cute ad: you’re watching a couple in silent turmoil. They watch other couples in happiness, while they’re gloomy and doom-stricken. Is the relationship over? Is the despair temporary? The woman is sitting by, absently at her meeting, when she sees her mate appear out of nowhere. He’s holding cue cards – “I’m sorry.” It turns out he’s not actually at her meeting; he’s sending a text message to her. “Me too,” she sends by text messaging on her little Nokia cell phone. Without words being said out loud, their relationship is on its way to being repaired, the fight resolved, so the viewer hopes.

Notably (to me anyway), the couple is a bi-racial – an Asian female and a white male. Both yuppies, if I interpret correctly from the suits they were wearing. Hmm. Television is coming a long way to reflecting reality, I guess. Or is it just looking for new ways (particularly of the eye-catching variety) to make us use text messaging? Either way, it was something interesting to watch.

Yanks v. Red Sox continues…

[Okay, I’ve tried to post this twice so far. Each time I’ve done it, I’ve tweaked it (especially since I can’t remember what I typed the previous time. Here’s another attempt and hopefully it’ll stick this time. Hmm. Server problems? And I thought it was just my connection to the Internet striking against me again].

Friday, 10/10/03 – frustration with NBC. I’m thinking that it’s a real shame that NBC pulled the 3rd episode of the 2nd season of “Boomtown.” Well, no one ever said that critically acclaimed shows will last; the ratings are always a network’s real goal. And, it looks like my track record with watching cancelled or soon-to-be-cancelled shows continues. I’m still mad at myself (in the trivial sense, I know) for erasing the 2nd episode from the previous week. That was such a great episode.

Commercials – Has anyone noticed Toyota’s Christopher Columbus, Action Figure? Those ads are so low-budget looking. For those who don’t know, basically the protagonist is a Ken doll dressed in a Christopher Columbus costume. He’s carrying a Toyota flag (although in one spot, he’s carrying a Spain flag). He’s speaking in a sort-of-NYC-outer-borough accent, cajoling a kid to tell his parents to go buy a Toyota for the holiday (“Badda-boom”). In another spot, Chris is jabbing his flag on a guy’s thigh while telling him to go buy a Toyota. In a third ad, Chris is telling this lady to go buy a Toyota; it ends with the lady trying to not burst into laughter. The ads are so campy and hilarious. Got to love that Christopher Columbus, Action Figure.

I don’t love the latest McDonald’s “I’m lovin’ it” promotion, with Justin Timberlake singing “I’m lovin’ it,” with a rapper I have yet to identify. Besides being grammatically incorrect, I just haven’t found the ads very persuasive. So the singers love Mickey D’s. That’s nice; but it doesn’t mean I’ll love it or you’ll love it or that we’ll all love it. The lyrics are pushing the Mickey D’s lifestyle: the rapper says he can’t cook, so he fills his stomach with McDonald’s. Um, okay. Can’t we just stick with the food at a bargain type of ads? Or something witty, like the weird breakfast treat thing (“Weird, but yummy”) or tempting (like those Chicken Breast Strips?). Oh, well.

Stay tuned.

Stairmaster in your future?

[I’ve recreated this article from memory. I hope it matches what I wrote.]

My mom gave me this pedometer (see picture at right) that she got from the 99 cent store. She couldn’t figure out how it works, so that’s how I got it. I wore it watching the Yankees-Red Sox game 3 (pretty violent) and Kill Bill Vol. 1 (very violent), and racked up 6800 steps, or 3 and a quarter miles. People say you should walk 10,000 steps a day. Let’s see how I do during the week. [Today, I walked under 600 steps as I didn’t leave my apartment, so I have a lot of catching up to do!]

NYU suffered a second student suicide this year. The unidentified student walked off the side of the 10th floor indoor balcony of Bobst Library, the same way as last month. Supposedly there are psychological design features to discourage jumping, such as spike patterns in the floor and cross-shaped cross-sections in the railing. Up until now it seemed to have worked, because no one had ever dared to jump from there before now. When I went there, the preferred method was walking out of dorm room windows.

How is it that the world knows that a coach was cut on the nose, but students die so anonymously?

Something weird happened with my ISP. SSW15 and I wrote two articles on the 12th, and they both disappeared. I know that the server was down sometime this evening. I’m pretty sure I’m not dreaming, because I got a comment email on my article. We’ll try to recreate those missing articles….

Back of the train in Brooklyn

The hot water in the apartment came back on today after being off for the last two days. It was pretty bad in this nippy weather. It was back to the concrete slab bathroom and two pots of boiled water method of bathing. I can deal with a lot of rough living and inconvenience, but not having a hot shower really bites.

In other news, the semi-final results of the recall:
1. Arnold Schwarzenegger
2. Cruz Bustamante
3. Tom McClintock
4. Peter Camejo
5. Arianna Huffington
6. Peter Ueberroth
7. Larry Flynt
8. Gary Coleman
9. George B. Schwartzman
10. Mary Carey

Proposition 54 preventing collection of racial demographic data was soundly defeated, as well as Proposition 53 allocating up to 3% of the state budget to infrastructure.

The Boston Red Sox won the first game against the Yankees 5-2 for the pennant. I’m torn between supporting New York and supporting the underdogs.

And, now we know – Chicago Cubs vs. Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox v. NY Yankees. Plus, the Mets’ pitcher Al Leiter on Fox doing the color analysis of the Cubs/Marlins game – the Marlins, Leiter’s ex-team? Baseball in October never ceases to surprise me.

Wonder if the news in CA is up yet? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger? We do live in interesting times, after all…

It’s 10:35pm; do you know where your children are? Just when you think it’s time to give up with baseball, they suck you back in… This Boston v. Oakland, Game 5, is turning out to be quite a watch. The A’s are trying to tie it up – again – and poor Johnny Damon had to be ambulanced out. The Yankee fans must be biting their nails, worrying who will be the team their team shall play in the league champion round. Makes me almost glad that I usually put up with the Mets.

Cue Soundtrack: Heather Headley, “If It Wasn’t For Your Love”. [Windows Media]
Go ahead, hit the link — it’s the couple’s song — and keep on reading.

Dragonboaters salute the new couple

There are certain experiences that are hard to put into words, or at least are easier to put in terms of another culture or another mode of expression. This wedding was one of those times.

Would I be standing here
After all these years
Among the stars above
Maybe not, if it wasn’t for your love

Just for the fact that this was a chicken dance-, electric slide-, macarena-, and (almost) conga- free wedding banquet automatically put it in the top five. Also, there were no Stupid Cantonese Wedding Tricks, which was also excellent. The food was quite good, the noodles were song (that’s al dente to everyone else) and the booze was free-flowing. But the fact that there were 65 tables of guests — that is 650 people — that put it over the top.

Smiling faces all around
Like when a king that has just been crowned
A battle has been won
That I’d have lost
If it wasn’t for your love

Waves of food served by an army of waitstaff, circles of dancers clasped and coupled every which way, the bride and groom carried aloft by dozens of people much like if there was a giglio (that’s an Italian dancing tower to you) during the “Hava Nagila” (“Let Us Rejoice and Be Glad”, a traditional Jewish wedding dance song). Just if it were Chinese with techno music. Agape would be the right word — the joy that everything is right for once in the world.

A fairy tale unfolds
More true than stories I’ve been told

One of the unspoken rules on this blog is that — to protect the innocent — we aren’t going to name anyone not in the public view, not even fellow writers. However, there were so many people at this wedding that I think the new couple qualifies as public figures. You’ve touched the lives of so many people in such a profound way that this is the fairy tale that you deserve: we’ll deal with tomorrow in the sequel, but today, the day is yours.

At last my chance to shine
And all in perfect time
The life I once dreamed of
Who’d have thought
If it wasn’t for your love

I think that was the night that I found it too.

Congratulations, Delphia and Darrow!

I think I’ve overloaded on the television stuff, but that’s just me.

CBS’ “The Handler”
starring Joe Pantaliano, he’s an FBI handler, that is, he preps the special agents who go undercover and retrieves them when their cases are done or get messed up. The series’ premiere was intruiging. Missed last night’s episode, but I can recommend it.

Of course, last night’s “Boomtown” was incredibly good. The show’s about the different views of the cops and LA’s deputy DA when dealing with a case. Actor Neal McDonough as the David McNorris, the deputy DA, was the focus of yesterday’s office; he struggled with prosecuting a cop-killer, his feelings about his father, and his alcoholicism (he just got back from rehab). The portrayal of his internal conflict (where he imagines himself yelling at his boss; versus his reality where he shakes his boss’ hand, thanking him for his support) was great. The actor should have been nominated for an Emmy for his stunning work of last season. (sidenote – McDonough played Lt. Hawke on “Star Trek: First Contact” the movie).

CBS’ “Joan of Arcadia” – quite good so far. The theme song, a slimmed down version of Joan Osbourne’s “One of Us” (the song asking what if God was one of us…) is, well, slimmed down. Amber Tamblyn, ex-Emily of “General Hospital,” plays Joan, a girl who sees God, who takes up the form of any person to tell Joan to set things in motion. Quite fun, really, watching things unfold. Strong cast, with Joe Montagna as Joan’s dad (everytime I hear his voice, I think of the character’s he played on “The Simpsons” (Fat Tony); I can’t help it!) – the police chief of Arcadia; Mary Steenburgen as Joan’s mom; and Jason Ritter as Joan’s wheelchair-using brother (who strongly resembles his dad, the late John Ritter). I definitely recommend this show.

Stay tuned…

And, before I go to sleep, I checked out the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, the entertainment magazine. Dated October 10, 2003, it’s the Photo Issue – “The Year’s Best Pictures,” with George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones on the cover (probably to promote their upcoming movie). Love these kinds of issues – glossy pictures, and more glossy pictures. Plus funny captions. Got to love the funny captions. And, the articles…

Notable lines from this week’s issue, for laugh-out-loud value:

1. Re: The review for “Miss Match,” NBC’s new show for Alicia Silverstone as a divorce lawyer/matchmaker –

“The most successful dramas on television provide hours of face time with just the kinds of people we try hard to avoid in real life – cops, lawyers, surgeons, judges, and pretty much anyone who analyzes bodily fluids for a living [in reference to the CSI folks, probably]…. Do we really need another season chockful of pervy miscreants with high-speed Internet connections and the gruff cops in no-nonsense footwear who stalk them? Survey says: no.” (Entertainment Weekly, “Love Connection,” Carina Chocano, p. 109, October 10, 2003).

2. Re: a line about the Showtime channel’s sci-fi series, “Jeremiah” –

“Chances are you didn’t catch the first season (or know there was one), so here’s the premise: Jeremiah (Luke Perry) and his pal Kurdy (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) are two of only a couple thousand survivors of a pandemic, and now they’re fighting evil people for control of the deadly virus. Yes, Dylan and Theo are humanity’s only hope. And, this second-season premiere finds Jeremiah reconnecting with his long-lost dad and Jurdy getting some help from Sam Gamgee – sorry, Sean Astin [as guest star]…. Extra points for best random grouping of former teen stars, but there’s little reason to watch beyond that.” (Entertainment Weekly, “What to Watch,” review by Jennifer Armstrong, p. 115, October 10, 2003).

Dylan and Theo? Gosh, even the imagery is just… bizarre. And the Lord of the Rings reference. Ah, only in Entertainment Weekly.

P.S. – Angel’s season premiere on WB this Wednesday – it was actually fun, in the Buffy/Angel usual kind of way. This is going to be quite a season.