Month: April 2011
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Royal Wedding
Of course I got up early to watch the Royal Wedding of William and Catherine (of the United Kingdom). It was very nice. Now, I suppose I’ll catch up on reading stuff about it, as well as still watching tv. (this is what I get for scheduling a few days off from work with coincidental timing)…
(cross-posted on sswslitinmotion.tumblr.com).
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Winding Down of April?
Hope you’re having a nice Easter, Passover, spring!
I have recommended Jennifer 8. Lee’s book on Chinese-American food; but I do question whether Panda Express can work in China (link is to an NPR coverage on the subject, including soundbites from Jennifer 8. Lee. I’d guess that Panda Express would have to pull quite a marketing thing. Not sure if their food stuff is any healthier than McDonald’s, but hey, who knows?).
Via an AABANY posting on Facebook, I discovered this link to a recent NPR interview: Michel Martin talking to Prof. Thomas Sy, who researched on the issue of APA’s as leaders. Very interesting stuff. Prof. Sy made some illuminating points. In a way, it goes both ways: Management (whoever they are) and APA’s as employees have to change (it ain’t about just working hard). And, it turns out that being masculine is still the model of leadership – well, not sure what that means for women (or women of color, especially). We all still have a long way to go!
In time for Passover: really interesting essay from Sandip Roy on NPR, on the Jewish community of Calcutta, or what was once a strong Jewish community, as Jewish people left for Israel and away from the turmoil of the Hindu v. Muslim conflict at the time of Indian independence from Britain.
Siddhartha Mukherjee, oncologist, won the 2011 Pulitzer for Nonfiction for his book, The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography of cancer. NPR re-posts the interview with Mukherjee that was on “All Things Considered.” Great interview – and I think I’ll read his book, or at least to add to the perpetually long to-read list.
Last, but not least: the passing of Elisabeth Sladen, who played Sarah Jane Smith, a long-time companion (well, in America, we’d say sidekick) to the Doctor. At least she got to work with at least 4 Doctors (I feel bad enough that I fell behind on watching the latest series).
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Happy Birthday, Shakespeare, wherever you are!
Shakespeare’s birthday! (more or less; something about the day he was baptized and plus or minus a couple of days).
Roger Ebert
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The President’s Mother
I read the excerpt of Janny Scott’s book on President Obama’s mom in the NY Times Magazine preview; it’s a very illuminating article. The book will likely be fascinating.
I’ve liked Scott’s previous reporting on the subject, so I’m looking forward to one day reading it in book form. I would like it if Obama would one day write about his mom, as fascinating his book on his dad has been. Of course, I’ve said this repeatedly… (see here, way back in 2008).
Plus, great post from Slate about the above article, concerning how interesting it is that examining the president’s mother brings some insight about his psyche and approach to matters.
If you’re curious about my previous thoughts about Obama’s own books, check out the following links to the triscribe blog: I had read “Dreams of My Father” way back in 2005(!) and had enjoyed it as very good writing (and very interesting for how it was written long before he was US Senator and President); and I remember looking forward to reading “Audacity of Hope” back in 2006 (but I don’t remember if I did get around to reading it).
(cross-posted to sswsliteratureinmotion).
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More Weekend
Other items:
The latest episode of “Fringe” – that was nuts. Basically, Walter, Peter, and a certain William Bell make a trip into Olivia’s brain – and with more than a touch of “Inception,” evidently, Olivia’s brain ain’t a pretty place.
Oh, and Walter, Peter, and Bell as cartoon animated versions of themselves was funny, in a logical kind of way (and, really, can Leonard Nimoy ever not emote as a Spock-like person?).
One of the priceless moments was Broyles in an acid-tripping state. As Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly notes in his recap of the episode:
Comic relief was provided by Broyles, who, back in Walter’s lab with Astrid, accidentally consumed some LSD and spent the episode slack-jawed and giddy, tripping on the spirals in a licorice stick. Even here, however, there was a moment of grave seriousness. “I saw death,” Broyles told Astrid, “and it was me.” That is, Broyles must have seen a vision of his alt-universe, dead self.
The actor playing Broyles, Lance Reddick, played haunted and funny brilliantly all at once. As normal Broyles, he really doesn’t smile enough and he doesn’t get to be in the mix that much with the Fringe team (as the stern leader, he can’t go on the LSD or the inter-dimensional traveling as often), but his moments brought a different perspective (and, weirdly enough, Astrid being the sane one was pretty poignant too).
Got to catch up on “Community.” A separate post will probably be necessary.
Oh, and who knew that Mary Wittenberg, head of the New York Road Runners, was a lawyer? Interesting profile of her on NY1.
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Weekend – An American Idiot Friday
Saw “American Idiot” on Friday night. Basically a Green Day opera. (see the review by NY Times’ Charles Isherwood).
Johnny (played by Van Hughes) is a clueless young man in suburbia in the post 9/11 world. His friends, Will (played by Justin Guarini – yes, that Justin Guarini of American Idol fame) and Tunny (played by David Larsen), are supposed to join him in the city, where they either chase their dreams (as they hope) or continue their lethargic and meaningless lives (as it might actually turn out to be).
Will, however, is stuck in suburbia, having gotten his girlfriend pregnant (and, staying behind doesn’t mean he’s actually being responsible, as Heather the girlfriend, played by Jenna De Waal, learns the hard way). Tunny couldn’t hack it in the city, and joins the army – and finds that Iraq ain’t what it was cracked up to be. And, Johnny – well, let’s just say that you can’t just go to the city without some real thought about you’re doing there.
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong is in the cast as St. Jimmy (see the Jan. 2011 commentary by NY Times’ Charles Isherwood on that). St. Jimmy is either an actual drug pusher, who’s destroying Johnny, or else he’s the figment in Johnny’s mind – Johnny’s own alter ego preventing him from pursuing a real life. Either way, Billie Joe had some pretty good sinister humor.
I thought that Tunny’s story was powerfully poignant, even if it is the typical story of the military guy who got into something way over his head and then redeemed by (what else?) the power of love (but, if you think about it, that adventure in the army gave Tunny specifically something far more than what the dystopia of suburbia ever did). I’ll concede that I probably enjoyed Tunny’s story because the actor, David Larsen, was kind of cute, nicely portrayed his character’s sadness, and had such a great voice – and he had a nice chemistry with the Extraordinary Girl, played by Libby Winters, the army nurse who helps Tunny get some mojo back.
Justin Guarini was pretty good (then again, as much derision that poor guy got in the after effects of season 1 of American Idol, I always thought that Broadway would have been more his thing than anything else in the mad world of pop music).
Rebecca Naomi Jones as WhatsHerName (the girl who was Johnny’s lost love – lost because he couldn’t keep her and she wasn’t going to stick with him and his pointlessness) was terrific with her energy and tragedy. If anything, I kind of thought that the stories of the women got lost (and Extraordinary Girl was more a symbol than an actual character). The rest of the cast were quite talented (Joshua Henry as the guy who attracts Tunny into the army was ridiculously charismatic; maybe that was why Tunny ended up in the army), and I liked that the cast came in various shapes and sizes.
The stories of the three guys might be thin (well, it is a musical – musicals do get thin on plot) and the musical was otherwise was a nice reminder that the Green Day album, “American Idiot” was a pretty good album (while trying to be a show, not a concert). And, the musical does make you wonder about this generation – my generation? – and whether it’ll actually do something good in this world.
Go ahead and see if you catch “American Idiot” before it closes. Decently entertaining (even if it isn’t the greatest pop musical on Broadway, not with the way the women got lost as they did. The great pop musical might actually be… “The Book of Mormon,” at the moment, which I haven’t seen, but the hype seems pretty real…).
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2011 Hyphen/AAWW Short Story Contest
A cross post from my Literature in Motion blog:
I’ll be remiss if I don’t pass this along – check out the link for the 2011 Hyphen/Asian American Writers Workshop Short Story Contest, the national, pan-Asian American writing competition. Deadline of May 16, 2011. Details may be found on the websites of either Hyphen or AAWW. May the best writers win!
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TGIF: Law and technology, sort of
Some decent news: the Senate Judiciary Committee recommended Goodwin Liu and so the Senate ought to vote him up or down already (not to mention Edward Chen). Now the Senate ought to confirm them already and to avoid a federal shutdown. Not that I think they ought to do everything, but they kind of have to.
Hmm. Apparently, an elderly woman cut off the Internet connection of Georgia and Armenia, when she was picking up a cable and thought she could use it as scrap metal. Really?
And… the return of ye olde Commodore 64? Wow. Talk about combining the new with the retro…
ABA Journal is voting on… peeps! Peeps in Law Dioramas are so fun and cute!
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April 2011
Texas A&M beat Notre Dame in the NCAA Women’s tournament.
As a follow up to March stuff, I watched “The Adjustment Bureau” with a friend. Entertaining movie, even if a little cheesy at the end. Matt Damon’s fun as David Norris, former Congressman from Brooklyn (I’m not sure if he really convinced me that he was a native of Red Hook), who finds out about The Adjustment Bureau. This leads to questions of what is destiny, free will, and the power of love.
The cast with Damon was pretty solid. Emily Blunt, as the love interest Elise, was charming (even if her character was a little under-written). Got to love John Slattery and Terrance Stamp as agents of The Adjustment Bureau. Anthony Mackie was also moving as the struggling agent of The Adjustment Bureau – his error might have been costly – and might have been fated anyway. And in the end, what is free will – if you believe that The Chairman is still behind things? Hmmm…
Oh, and it’s currently National Poetry Month, besides being the start of baseball season (go Mets! Hope spring eternal and all that).
