Category: Manhattan

Summery Summer in August

The last episode of “Top Chef Masters” was great fun. Keller v. Bayless v. Chiarello, with Kelly Choi as host – this was great. (nothing really against Padma Lakshmi, but I have watched way too much Kelly on “Eat Out New York” and got too accustomed to Kelly’s good spirits and enthusiasm). I haven’t watched Top Chef Masters consistently, but I liked watching the masters cook (considering that some of them have their own shows or have been on “Iron Chef America” – well, it’s not like they’re unfamiliar; it’s nice watching the familiar having fun (or getting frustrated in Top Chef style; how do they find time to do these gigs? They’re such busy people!).

Reading this week’s Frank Bruni column in the NY Times’ Dining section made me wonder — it sounded too much like a farewell type column. I mean, sure, the guy has a book out and all (admittedly, not what you do if you’re going to continue trying to go undercover to critique restaurants, but I never quite believed that he really went to great lengths, since he used to be a political reporter – come on, people can kind of know and you did other stuff and had another life), but he couldn’t possibly be stepping down from the pretty cool position as food critic (putting aside the bad food he must have eaten along the way).

But, then came reading the Time Out New York interview, confirming that it is his last week. Aww. Ok, so, I’m behind the news (as usual). But, say it ain’t so, Mr. Bruni! Has it been that long since he took over William Grimes’ beat? (I was a little weirded out when Grimes stepped down as food critic, since he actually revealed himself). Time flies!

So, my denial must end; great little feature on how Bruni’s friends and family put up with his beat (which apparently is fun, but can be exasperating) – plus now hiding his successor, Sam Sifton (Times stayed in-house again; that’s ok, I guess).

Bruni’s writing has been great reads; past links: here, here, here, here, here (where I acknowledged reading Bruni back on the political news beat and wondered if he could combine politics and food); Bruni on the Momofuku thing and how I tried to get on it.

Wonder what Bruni will do next; would he become a book critic/critic-at-large like Grimes? Or head back to political coverage? Ok, apparently, he’s off to the Times’ Sunday Magazine, but still… anything can still happen, right? Hmm… I am sorely tempted to get his book; excerpts of it read like solid Bruni.

Slate’s Explainer explains why we call Galileo “Galileo” and not “Galileo Galilei” (his actual name).

The passing of Don Hewitt, the creator of “60 Minutes.” Time’s James Poniewozik makes some interesting observations on Hewitt’s (mixed) legacy (on the one hand, “60 Minutes” outlasted a bunch of other tv news magazines; on other hand, “60 Minutes” started the concept of high concept tv new magazines – even the crappy ones can trace their lineages back to Hewitt’s work).

Summertime

My little web presence will be discontinued this fall, since Yahoo is ending geocities in October. Consider this your last opportunity to check it out! … certainly feel free in giving me ideas on options; I am in deliberation.

Watched “(500) Days of Summer” – sweet, sad, funny; I recommend it. Yeah there are odd plot holes and you want to wonder how silly the characters can be – but it’s a human story. I liked it.


Y.E. Yang beat Tiger Woods.

Just me getting on the soap box for a minute: Apparently, there are indeed rational ways to consider how we can reform health care in this country. You know, without screaming at foolhardy legislators (who are a lot braver than I realize; but the mediator in me would want to encourage people to… realize that screaming is counter-productive and not a problem-solving technique; can we hear each other out and read and learn, before we react like fools? This isn’t exactly an easy problem and I just don’t think status quo is supportable, if it’s the thing that will hurt us in the long run).

NY Times’ Paul Krugman raises the question of how do we deal with an “unreasoning, unappeasable opposition”? — I’d suppose that realizing that they’re there is one step; the next is how to persuade the confused middle (I’m thinking that there has to be a lot of them; how many of us can say we understand health care/ health insurance or have read the bills on the issue?).

NY Times’ Bob Herbert acknowledges the confusion (great, I’m not the only one noticing it).

Very interesting item: President Obama has nominated three Asian-Americans to be judges in California’s federal district courts. (hat tip to Angry Asian Man, blog of which I’ve been getting into reading of late). Hmm… by the way, there is at least one vacant seat in 2nd Circuit, with Justice Sotomayor now on the US S.Ct…

The thing that moved me about the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver is learning about the impact she made in the lives of those with disabilities, particularly with the Special Olympics, and getting us to be more aware – back when women were not necessarily expected to be the political ones, in the sense of running for office, and thus having other ways to be advocates for others. I thought there was something powerful in reading how one person with a disability left a note: “She taught us to stand tall.”

It finally feels like summer, or We Hit 90

We had 90 degrees today. Finally, the first time since April 2009. Weird summer, temperature-wise.

Summer television:

I managed to watch “Psych” – wherein Shawn and Gus are in Vancouver and go after a thief, amusingly played by Cary Elwes (who – while no longer in his Princess Bride prime, was game for silliness).

“Law and Order: Criminal Intent” has been a show I’ve managed to avoid for quite awhile now – Vincent D’Onofrio tired me out (plus I miss the lack of lawyers) and I was wary of seeing Jeff Goldblum on the series (I liked him back when he did “Raines” – and worried if he was just playing a saner version of Raines but transplanted in NYC). The season finale, wherein Goldblum’s Detective Nichols works with Detective Eames (played by Kathryn Erbe; the character’s showing more gumption when she’s not overshadowed by Det. Goren’s drama) try to stop a revoluntary terrorist (that’s the best I can describe it). It got silly, but at least it was watchable and entertaining. Summary here. NBC should’ve actually aired it, but so that goes.

Not that I understand NBC these days; I’m still unsure of their plan to have Jay Leno take over the primetime 10-11pm slot. Time’s James Poniewozik (who’s on vacation, and thus allowed “Robo-James” take over his blog) posts the question of why viewers and/or critics take umbrage of NBC’s low-brow decision-making. He makes the point that, yeah, NBC has a venerable history of scripted tv; but he questions the logic of being attached to a broadcast network when the attachment’s usually to a tv show itself.

Personally, my reaction to the broadcast networks stem from the years of not having cable (therefore relying on the networks to give me tv) and how they treat my favorite shows and/or how they promote themselves (branding’s the thing that brainwashes us all).

I resented CBS for how they canceled “Due South” way back when; and pretty much avoided it because they didn’t have shows I cared for (and seemed to target an older audience). I’ve come to respect it for being traditional and stable (which seems to be how they branded themselves for the longest time now; CBS manages to retain the sitcom in its traditional format – and less traditional format – like “How I Met Your Mother”) and having less idiotic reality shows (considering the power of “Survivor” and “Amazing Race” – okay, not “Big Brother,” which I still avoid like the plague that it is).

I’ve been attached to ABC for a multitude of reasons – their news, their cartoons (back in the day), and their weird tv shows (they took chances, because for a long time, they were in the basement).

FOX — well, it’s FOX.

And, NBC was supposed to be better than silly, but I questioned it – and nominated it for worst tv of 2008 – when they gave us “Knight Rider” (and didn’t even bother to do it right; I mean, come on – you can’t quite mess up campiness). If you don’t have the shows I want to watch, you’re not destination I’m going to watch. (Hence, I watch more PBS these days).

Wat Misaka was apparently the first non-Caucasian player in modern professional basketball. Cool.

FC told me about how he and P had a great time in Montreal; he referred me to a pretty cool video of the concert they had seen of Coldplay (not by FC):

Last but not least, as we all could use a little smile: awww… cute dog!