Assault On Pork

Winter Break 2009 in Argentina (and Chile)

2010-01-15T10:54:00.032-05:00

Reena and I went to Argentina (and Chile) recently for Winter Break and though we had a originally talked about Brazil and perhaps argued a bit about the length of the trip, we decided to head for Argentina since the parents thought it would be safer and since Reena wanted to see penguins in Glaciers. I had never been on a trip that long before (though 2.5 weeks can go pretty quickly!). I think we lost a few days in transit, which can always be the case, so I'm glad that we didn't make it any shorter. Equipped with my brand new camera, I am ready for adventure!

We left for Buenos Aires on Sunday the 20th and arrived in Buenos Aires on Monday the 21st in the morning. Flew Detroit-Miami-Buenos Aires, which the last flight being about 8 hours long. Reena and I were unfortunately in the back of the plane with the most obnoxious child known to mankind, screaming at the top of her lungs, so we could not sleep at all! But we arrived in one piece, despite the 45-minute delay caused by an individual, who at the last minute, decided that he could not fly anymore and for security purposes, his luggage needed to be removed from the cargo-hold. So we waited as the ground crew went through each and every piece of luggage as they found his.

All is forgotten when you arrive in Buenos Aires though. We shared a cab with a gentleman from our flight and he told us that Buenos Aires is often called the Paris of South America. Is it true? I guess we would find out. We arrive at La Cayetana Hotel and really enjoy the open-air atmosphere and peacefulness of the hotel. We also enjoy the dulce de leche muffins for breakfast and freshly made cafe con leche! Then we go and wander around the city to get a flavor for some of the Buenos Aires architecture. We have lunch at a soon to be favorite restaurant called Filo, with plenty of veggie options. We visit the cemetery that Buenos Aires is famous for (A little weird right? A cemetery?), but Eva Peron's tomb was there.

The next day we try to wander around the city some more to capture more of the atmosphere, but it is just to hot and humid. We seek refuge in a museum, this time choosing the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. As the heat and humidity have not died down, we quickly run to another museum, this time in the district of San Telmo. The two museums (Modern Art Museum and National History Museum) we were interested were closed and we wander around the antique shops in San Telmo.

The next day we fly to Ushuaia (The End of the World or El Fin del Mundo). It's a long flight as Ushuaia is Argentina's southern most city. Landing in Ushuaia, you can already see mountains from above. On our half day, we check in at our B&B, catch our breath, and head to the "prison museum" Ushuaia is famous for.

Ushuaia, for the first half of the 20th century, used to be the place where prisoners were sent. It was concerned torture, for the extreme weather in the winter and extremely short days. After this, we have four full days in Ushuaia! Perhaps it was a bit overkill to spend four days in Ushuaia (you probably only need 2-3 days: one day for Tierra del Fuego and one day for the Canal Fun tour), but we had a really great time regardless and also met a lot of fun people in Ushuaia. Ushuaia is also a major port for cruise ships leaving for Antarctica, so we saw a handful of cruise ships parked in the harbor. Perhaps we will go on an Antarctic cruise sometime later in life!

Our first day, we take a boat ride in the Beagle Channel since I heard this is the thing to do when you are in Ushuaia. We went with Patagonia Adventure Explorer since the B&B recommended this. I was less than impressed with this. (We subsequently heard that boat tours run by Tres Marias were much better!) Sure it was cool to be on a boat, see the town of Ushuaia get smaller and smaller, be surrounded by mountains in the Beagle Channel, but the lighthouse and cormorants did not seem that fascinating.

The sea lions were pretty cool and the social structure was a bit interesting. It seems like for every male there are around 5 or so females in his harem. So what happens to the 80% of male sea lions without mates? Perhaps they are just sexually frustrated for life. Male sea lions look significantly bigger than female sea lions (around twice the size) and have thicker, darker fur. Female sea lions look like they don't really have much fur at all and smooth skin. We got off on a small island in the Beagle Channel and went walking around a bit. They called it a "trek" but it was not really a trek :), just a small walk.

One of the tour guides told us about the local people of the Beagle Channel, the Yamanas, and how they were essentially killed off (inadvertently), when the Europeans came to the area. Today there is only one full-blood Yamana and she is in her 90s, the rest of the descendants of the Yamanas people are of mixed descent. We quickly learn that the weather in Ushuaia is very variable, sunny, cloudy, windy, rainy all within a half an hour's time.

That evening we went to Christmas dinner at our B&B where we met a lot of interesting people, ate some veggie stew and devoured many cakes! We had a "Secret Santa", where I got a penguin bookmark and Reena got a stone from a beach in Italy. Not sure if she considered worth it to bring it back to the states with her :) Needless to say she didn't declare it in customs.

The next day we visit Tierra del Fuego National Park. We hike along this lovely trail along the coast with this Slovakian girl and a French couple that we met at our hotel. It was a nice hike and I hadn't been hiking in a while! Luckily, I wasn't super slow :) The snow covered mountains, the greenery of the park, and the peaceful water made for a stunning landscape. There weren't that many people in the park, so it added to the serenity of the environment. We also had plenty of opportunity to take pictures of flowers! :) I could have spent another day at the park hiking, although most of the park is closed off to tourists and only a small section of the park (i.e. a handful of trails) is available to the public.

On the third day we (along with our new Slovakian friend) visit Glacier Marital where you can get views of Ushuaia from up above. You can take the Aerosilla and then hike the rest of the way up, but being the seasoned hikers that we were, we decided to hike the whole way, about 3 km roundtrip, with elevation gain. Along the way, we saw lovely waterfalls and scenary. As we approach the top, we get views of Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel from up above. It was a nice hike with good views!

Our last day we went on a really memorable tour run by Canal Fun, it was a combination of canoeing, penguin viewing, and hiking. Our group of 20 split up into two canoes and went canoeing in the Beagle Channel. It was really fun since we were in this remote area of the Beagle Channel were we could not see civilization. We saw some rock cormorants and sea lions up close. Next we took a motorboat to Isla Martillo to see the penguins. As we approached the island, there were penguins all along the coast. I have never seen so many penguins in my life.

They were Magellanic penguins (maybe one of the least attractive of the penguin variety) with a few Gentoo penguins mixed in (they had orange breaks and orange feet). The penguins were nesting at this time of year, but we did not see any chicks. They also didn't seem to afraid of us, just intrigued, probably they are used to having slews of visitors.

After lunch, we went hiking on Gable Island which seemed to be overrun by beavers. They were introduced into Ushuaia in the 40s (only 50 were introduced) and have no natural predator in this environment so their numbers continue to grow unchecked (over 100,000 in Tierra del Fuego currently). Gable Island was also in a seemingly remote area of the Beagle Channel so it was very peaceful.

We arrive in El Calafate and have two full days. We have one day for mini-trekking (we tried to switch it to Big Ice, but they were all full!) and one free day. The disappointing thing about El Calafate is it's not that easy to get to the National Park (surprising I know). The second day we wanted to go hiking at Lago Roca, but buses only go there on weekends! Annoying right? So we went horseback riding on our second full day in El Calafate. It was fun, something different and we got to see a lot of cows and guanacos (finally!). A guanaco is a beautiful animal that looks like a cross between a deer and llama. I was actually wondering if you could buy guanaco yarn somewhere. Silly me I know! Horseback riding is a little weird if you only have done it once before in your life and takes a little getting used to, but fun nonetheless, and I'm sure I will try it again.

We also visit Laguna Nimez, a quiet and beautiful bird sanctuary, a short walk from the center of town. With two small lakes and some interesting species of birds, this place was especially serene.

The mini-trekking was really fun. Sure it was touristy and Hielo y Aventura operates like a well-oiled machine, but at the end of the day, strapping on those crampons and going hiking on a glacier cannot be beat!

We also got to see the cracks and crevices of the glacier up close, with running water around us.

We got ample time to view the Glacier and ear the thundering icebergs as they fall into Lago Argentino. Our first viewings of the Perito Moreno glacier were really memorable, because the glacier is massive, and we could not see where the ice started from and all the jagged edges of the glacier were fascinating! Not to mention the exceptionally blue waters of Lago Argentino!

I am not at all disappointed we didn't get to do the Big Ice tour, since mini-trekking was so enjoyable, but if I am ever in El Calafate again, I will try it! That, and hiking at Lago Roca, to the top of Cerro Cristal. Hopefully the Perito Moreno glacier will still be there if we decide to visit again, apparently it is only one of three glaciers fed by the Patagonian ice field that are not retreating so perhaps there is a good chance it will be!

El Calafate is touristy and expensive and all the restaurants you need reservations for. The first night Reena and I decide to eat at Pura Vida, which is a bit of a trek from the town center. But it was definitely worth it. The veggie options were plentiful (for Argentina), unique and tasty! Reena got a veggie lasagna filled with zucchini and squash and topped with carrot sauce and I got an eggplant potato pot pie topped with Parmesan cheese (there was no actual pie crust here, for the better I think!). The next night we eat at and get really good deserts, I get fried milk topped with milk ice cream and Reena get's apple cannelloni's.

After El Calafate, we head to Torres del Paine in Chile. The bus ride is a bit annoying because it takes so long and is very disorganized! After getting a Chile stamp in our passport :), we get there and the park is beautiful and we forget our annoyance at the disorganization, there are many lakes that are a very beautiful color of blue. To my delight, we see guanacos galore!

We check in at our Refugio, dump off our stuff and go hiking around a bit. We make it to Lago Nordenskjold, which is quite peaceful and tranquil with lovely views of mountains. That evening we have New Year's Eve Dinner at the Refugio, which is quite nice (suprisingly so for a Refugio) and go to bed at 10 pm (lame I know, but we did get up at 4:30 am that morning).

For our only full day in the park, we have trouble deciding what to do. The woman working at the Refugio tells us to hike to the base of the towers and back (one of the "legs" of the W). It is a long hike 8 hours and 22 km round trip. Reena scoffs at the notion that this is hard! "We can do it!" she says. Little did we realize how uphill this hike would be! So much huffing and puffing, yet trying to keep your mouth closed at the same time so you don't swallow any bugs. When we make it to the base of the towers it is well worth it!

What a memorable hike! We will go home, prepare, and come back and do the W sometime in the future! Before we head back on our second day, we hike to some waterfalls near Lago Pehoe and the famous "Los Cuernos", but it is very windy and cloudy so we don't make it all the way to "Los Cuernos". We also take a boat ride over Lago Pehoe which is also stunningly blue and finally get a somewhat clear view of Los Cuernos after the clouds have cleared.

Then we head back to El Calafate by bus (on a late and disorganized trip of course), to head back to Buenos Aires the following day. Too bad we did not get to see Glacier Grey and Lago Grey, especially since Glacier Grey is retreating!

Finally back in Buenos Aires for the two days of our trip, ready to take it easy and eat something other than pizza, pasta or cheese sandwiches! We visit Filo again and find a vegetarian organic restaurant called Bio and get some fresh juices (with ginger), veggies, and tofu! We like it so much we go back the next day for lunch! We also visit the MALBA (the newest art museum in Buenos Aires) and the botanical garden, where we are eaten alive by mosquitoes. I really enjoy the MALBA for the Andy Warhol exhibit and the modern art in general. We head to Bar Sur that evening for a fun and intimate tango show. We don't realize that when they say the show starts at 8:30, we are supposed to show up at 10:30. It was a bit awkward :) But hey, we are tourists!

It would have been nice to be in Buenos Aires on the weekend, so we could go to one of their many markets, but probably Reena would have gotten on my nerves for taking too many pictures! :) Nothing is more photogenic than piles of fresh colorful produce!

All-in-all, a really amazing trip. Though I may have blogged about what I would do differently, it's only in the event that it may be useful to someone who comes across this blog while they are planning their trip. It was truly a memorable trip! We got to hiking, ice-hiking, canoeing, penguin viewing, horseback riding, boating, and I know I am missing something... museum-ing, tango show viewing, etc! Can't wait to head back to Argentina, though I suspect it won't be for a while, perhaps to visit Iguazu Falls, Mendoza, Bariloche, the lakes district, and El Chalten!

It was also really fun to practice my Spanish. My Spanish vocabulary needs a lot of brushing up on and the only grammar I really remember are present tense, preterite and the present participle (I am doing...). I am motivated to study it again and then visit another Spanish speaking country in December. The Colombian family we met horseback riding was trying to convince Reena that Colombia should be next, but she was less than convinced!

Back to Blogging?

2008-11-06T19:08:00.002-05:00

So many thoughts are swimming in my head, so maybe I should start blogging again. The election of Barack Obama was pretty exciting, so was the fact that he won states like Virginia, Ohio, Indiana (very narrowly), and North Carolina (even more narrowly). It is pretty cool that this country elected a black man, it happened sooner than I thought would. I didn't have the emotional reaction that a lot people had, but I felt satisfied, that the world was as it should be. The day after the election, I suddenly became worried that Barack Obama may not be able to do as much as we all hope that he will. The economy is likely to be slow for at least a few years. Will Barack Obama be able to make enough progress with this crappy situation that he has been given in four years so that he can get re-elected? His appointment of numerous Clinton aides makes me worry, will he be the same as Clinton? Clearly he is not dumb enough to get caught up in a Lewinsky type scandal that would seriously distract him from his job. What will happen with the Republican party? Will they become more centrist? Or will the remaining members in power become more apeshit and make it so that Barack Obama can get nothing done. Clearly Obama is a big, big improvement from George Bush in that Obama is a hard-worker and very smart. It's a bit strange that Bush will be passing on the presidency to Obama, since in a lot of ways they are polar opposites. Bush came from priviledge and wealth and did not have to work hard in life. Obama came from modest means, worked very hard, and often made the difficult life choices (i.e. being a community organizer instead of being a high paid corporate lawyer).

When McCain was making his concession speech, I felt really bad for him. I know that he truly loves his country, but there were a lot of things that happened during the campaign that really disappointed me. If he were truly a maverick he wouldn't have picked Sarah Palin as vice president. He's a little to hawkish -- the fact that he was willing to joke about bombing Iran was scary. I also think his health care plan is colossally stupid. Clearly this is the end of McCain's presidential hopes, but hopefully it is also the end of Sarah Palin's.

I will be going to Rome in July!

2008-05-10T15:34:00.002-04:00

Yay! I will go to the Vatican City, the Coliseum, the Pantheon and see all the museums, basilicas and piazzas! I will also eat lots of deliciousness :)

I have just had the greatest idea!

2008-01-13T14:48:00.000-05:00

When I graduate, I will graduate in May or June and start a job in August or September in California so that I can drive cross country and stop at all the really awesome national parks along the way. Of course the stops are heavily biased on the western side of the country, but there is Cuyoga National Park in Ohio that I could stop at. Then I should go to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. Why else would I go to Wyoming and when in the future would I find occasion to go? Other possibilities to stop at include: Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Park in Montana, Great Basin National Park in Nevada, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and Crater Lake National Park in Oregon (of course I can't stop at them all since that would be a very roundabout trip!).

Of course, I would need to sucker someone into going with me.

Spring Break

2007-11-30T02:25:00.000-05:00

I want to travel over spring break -- I wonder where I can go. I would really love to go to Utah, but I think I should go to Utah at the end of May sometime since spring break might be a little too cold still. Perhaps I can go to Peru and visit Machu Picchu and Cuzco! I bet that would be a really amazing trip.

DIA

2007-11-29T15:14:00.000-05:00

I recently went to the Detriot Institute of Art for its grand opening with my friend Esha and was pleasantly surprised with it. The DIA had been renovated to resemble the Met and of course, I really like the Met, so that was a good choice. Of course it can't compare to the Met in terms of size and the number of famous pieces but it was still really nice. We checked out the Asian, Egyptian, Native America, and Modern Art sections (it was strange that the called impressionist art modern art. When I think of Modern Art I think of Rothko, Klee, Warhol, etc.) We also saw a Diego Rivera mural and checked out some photography. It was super crowded for the grand opening since they weren't charging admission, but luckily Esha and I arrived in time so we didn't have to wait in line for a long time. I think the Modern Art section was the most crowded, every wanted to see the Monets, the van Goghs, the degas, etc. I even saw a piece or two that I had seen in the SFMoma earlier in the year.

I want to go to more art museums! I will have to check out the MFA and the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum when I have a spare weekend. Not to mention the Natural History Museum that is across the street from my office.

New York!

2007-10-20T15:43:00.001-04:00

Next time I go to New York, I will visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MoMA (the SFMOMA was somewhat of a let down), the Guggenheim and maybe the Natural History Museum! Then perhaps I will be museumed out for a little while :)

New Hampshire and surroundings!

2007-10-09T20:56:00.000-04:00

I guess I need to write about all this travel to get it out of my system. I'm not sure if I will be able to explore what New England has to offer before the weather gets cold given that I'm pretty busy during the semester (sadly busier than I thought I would be!), but let me just write about things I'd like to do in the spring, summer and fall of 2008!

I would like to visit the "Lakes Region" of New Hampshire, where there are some 273 lakes and ponds. Apparently there is a very scenic 97-mile Lakes Region Tour and there are boat tours as well. Some of the popular lakes in the area are Lake Winnipesaukee (which might be a bit too bustling) and Squam Lake (known for being quieter). There is also Mount Sunapee State Park which has some hiking and boat tours.

Then of course there is the White Mountains. How to miss the White Mountains. Mount Washington is the highest mountain in the Northeast and apparently has breathtaking views. One can drive up to the top of Mount Washington, but I want to hike up it! It's only a 6,000 ft elevation change, very do-able! Then there is the lesser known Monadnock Region with Mount Monadnock, which I also want to climb to the top of!

It's supposedly really good to go in the fall for the foliage.

Then there is Block Island near Rhode Island and Acadia National Park in Maine which have more outdoor deliciousness!

Fun Things to Do in California

2007-10-09T15:02:00.001-04:00

I guess I feel like writing about travel now, so I will continue with a post on California. I had been to Yosemite National Park once five years ago and once four years ago. Five years ago, I did the Upper Yosemite Falls hike with Manyam, Suchi, Matt and Stephanie from IBM. Four years ago, I did the Half Dome Hike but didn't make it up in time to do the ropes up to the Half Dome and frankly I would probably have chickened out if I actually did make it there. I would like to go back and do the Half Dome Hike again, this time not chickening out! Honestly though, I think this summer, I was not in good enough shape to do the Half Dome hike, but maybe next summer or the summer after that after all my working out at Healthworks with Minh! As my friend Esha says, the good thing about national parks is that they are still there for you to come back to next time! :)

Probably farther away from the SF Bay Area are the Sequioa and Kings Canyon National Park and the Redwood National Park. Those probably have some fabulous hiking and amazing trees to look at! I did see some nice redwoods in Muir Woods, but I bet that the ones in this park are even bigger! One nice thing about Sequioa and Kings Canyon National Park is that they are less crowded than Yosemite. Also, Sequioa National Park has General Sherman, the which is 2,500 years old, which must be pretty amazing... Apparently the redwoods in Redwood National Park are taller but the sequioas in Sequioa National Park. Redwood National Forest represents only about 1 percent of the original forest since redwoods make for ideal lumber since they are resistant to both termites and rot.

I have also never been to Mount Shasta and Lake Tahoe, which both have really nice hiking! I guess when I think of Shasta I think of rock climbing and Tahoe I think of water sports in the summertime and skiing in the wintertime, but they do indeed have nice hiking. Tahoe a 165 mile trail around the lake rim, which may be just a little ambitious! Perhaps I should learn how to rock climb because Shasta is supposed to be do-able for in-shape beginners! Perhaps I should try rock-climbing at the gym first!

Of course there is Point Reyes also which I was really stupid for missing!

I think Point Reyes is a day trip from the south bay, Yosemite, Tahoe, and Sequioa + Kings Canyon are weekend trips, but Shasta and Redwood National Park are long weekend trips :) Apparently there is a 211-mile trail that connects Yosemite, Kings Canyon, and Sequioa National Parks along the backbone of the Sierra Nevada. How cool! Again, too ambitious for me, but fun to know about.

I did have a lot of fun during my time in California. The highlights of my summer were hiking in Muir Woods, Rancho San Antonio, Castle Rock (which was sort of on the way to Santa Cruz), and Angel Island (I love boats and the water looked so blue!). I also enjoyed eating out on University Ave and eating yummy desserts at Cafe del Doge. I had fun going to Yoshi's for the jazz show and bumming around Berkeley. Reading Harry Potter, watching Harry Potter and watching Stardust were also a lot of fun, though I could have probably done that anywhere. And then there was a trip to Napa Valley though I'm not sure I will do that again since there is only so much wine that you can drink.

TV

2007-10-05T17:31:00.001-04:00

Well today is Friday so the most interesting television days (Wednesday and Thursday) have just passed us, so how bad of a blogger would I be if I didn't write about them? Wednesday I watched America's Next Top Model (of course) and Kate Walsh's new show Private Practice. Thursday I watched Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy and the new show with cuties Dylan McDermott and Michael Vartan, called Big Shots. I do have to say, despite the two cuties, Big Shots seems really dumb. It also seems like they are dragging out this storyline of Dylan McDermott's character being serviced by a tranny pro in a gas station bathroom for far too many episodes. I mean such a story in one episode could be interesting, but three? A bit ridiculous!

I really liked Ugly Betty last season, but I'm not too excited about it this season, it's getting a bit too far-fetched and a bit too predictable at the same time. Is that possible? Predictable in the sense that Wilhemina and Bradford's wedding keeps getting postponed and Henry and Betty will soon get together (or so it seems). But completely far-fetched when it comes to the Alexis storyline and the Amanda storyline (though the latter is just a small portion of the plot).

Grey's Anatomy is okay so far. (Yes, I know I should be able to come up with a better descriptive word for it but I guess I can't make up my mind about it yet). In the last two episodes, I felt sorry for Lexie and maybe Meredith a bit. I like how Meredith is becoming a stronger person and I like how they are showing the vulnerable side of Christina in a believable way. I don't like what the writers are doing with Izzie. They are giving her some very strange lines. What was that whole Bambi monologue about? And I still remember her telling George, "You are the glue. You are George". DUMB! Perhaps the dumbest thing about her is that in her year as an intern, she went out with Alex, fell in love with Denny Duquette and killed him and fell in love with her best friend George. I mean really! Isn't there a limit to the number of times that a person can fall in love in a year? Still despite that, I will continue watching. I have a feeling that McSteamy will get some interesting lines and that maybe McSteamy and McDreamy will rekindle their friendship. McSteamy is generally a fun character, mainly for the fact that he is a man-whore so these are positive things, I think... I didn't get into the whole Alex and Ava thing at the end of last season, so I don't care too much if they are going to pursue that storyline some more or not. But I do think it's kind of funny the way Alex keeps checking out Lexie. Poor girl needs some lovin' right about now. Oh and I am very much relieved that McDreamy won't be shacking up with Meredith's estranged half-sister any time soon.

So Kate Walsh's new show... Not that bad. I thought it was going to be really bad when I saw the previews for it, but it's decent. And they are two cute boys on the show, Dell the receptionist and Addison's new love interest (don't know his name yet). I like Taye Diggs as well. I think he is good actor and got to love a man who can sing! I'm kind of disappointed that they replaced Naomi. I liked the actress who was in the preview episode in May better, she was prettier and softer... I also like the Judging Amy lady as an actress... But I do have a feeling that I will get bored of the show very quickly. Just not as bad as I thought :)

Finally, ANTM! I wonder if I should stop watching that show because it seems to portray women in a negative light. It seems to portray women as catty and stupid, but I guess this cycle has more intelligent seeming women so I will continue to watch it. But as far as intelligent seeming women, I don't like the edits that the Yale girl gets. It seems that they only want to show her talking about Yale and that makes her seem very one-dimensional. I do love Heather though, she is so beautiful and she seems like a really nice girl. I'm hoping that uber-bitch Bianca gets axed next, but I doubt it because she keeps things interesting. (That's another complaint that I have about the show is that they don't seem to go on actual merit, they seem to go on who makes the show interesting which is kind of disappointing in my mind). If I had to guess, I would think that Janet goes next. Next episode should be very interesting since it's the makeover episode and apparently one girl goes bald! Hopefully it's Bianca :)

If you are bored of my rantings of TV, quite possibly my next post will be on Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail because that is also one place that I'm dying to go to!

Fun things to do in Vancouver

2007-10-04T14:04:00.000-04:00

Since I'm bored of working, let me write about fun things to do in Vancouver in case I make it there over the summer. I think it would nice to go to Vancouver/Vancouver Island for 1-2 weeks over the summer and make a detour to Yoho National Park. On Vancouver Island there is Pacific Rim National Park, Whale Watching, Butchart Gardens, and the Royal British Columbia Museum. I've never been whale watching before and it's supposed to be especially good on Vancouver Island since it has the largest concentration of killer whales in the world. Of course, Pacific Rim National Park and Yoho National Park have great hiking, which I'm totally in to these days... I think it would be fun to go in late July or early August. Now I need to find someone to go with!

Places I hope to visit next year

2007-10-04T13:30:00.000-04:00

Want to go national parking in Utah:

Arches National Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Canyonlands National Park
Capitol Reef National Park
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Moab and Red Rock Country
Monument Valley
Zion National Park

I think it would be fun to go to Alaska over the summer (perhaps as part of a cruise) and Vancouver.

Desperate Housewives

2007-10-01T14:26:00.000-04:00

So I watched the season premiere of Desperate Housewives and though it was pretty entertaining I did have a few complaints. I think the show is reverting back to season 1. The new neighbors have this hidden secret which reminds me of Mary Alice. Since "Dylan" is not the real "Dylan", what happened to the old "Dylan" and how did they get this new "Dylan"? And why did they leave Wisteria Lane in such a hurry last time? It just reminds me a lot of Zach Young and Mary Alice. Bre is hiding her daughter's pregnancy instead of hiding the fact that her marriage is falling apart. I suspect that this storyline will become similar to the season 1 storyline as people start to find out that Bre is not actually pregnant. Lynette is now juggling cancer and motherhood instead of a career and motherhood. And Gaby is having an affair again -- this time not cheating on Carlos but cheating with Carlos. Susan... well I guess I can't come up with a parallel for Susan with season 1. Perhaps in this season she will be losing Mike instead of getting Mike? Though Susan and Mike have broken up and gotten together so many times, perhaps they should just be happy together this season. Nevertheless, I was pretty entertained and I think I will continue watching Desperate Housewives. After all, I do need to make time to knit and watching TV is perfect for that!

I want to start writing in my blog again...

2007-09-30T15:12:00.000-04:00

So here goes: My first post after a long hiatus will be about ANTM! Since the new cycle just started, what better thing to blog about. After all, as a male friend says, "[The show] has something for everyone." I am more excited about this cycle than previous cycles because it seems like the girls in this cycle are more unique and perhaps more intelligent than in previous cycles, where it seemed like you had single mother after single mother and not a lot of the girls went to college. I like the girl who has Asperger's syndrome since she has a very striking face. I got annoyed with Kimberly though for saying that you don't want to get close to someone like that because people like that tend to get klingy. Hopefully Kimberly will be gone in the next episode! I'm not sure I like the girl who goes to Yale though, she seems to keep name-dropping Yale and you know how I feel about people who go to Yale... I think this cycle has a lot of beautiful African-American women including Ebony, Lisa and Saleisha. I also like the plus-size girl Sarah because she seems really fun. I'm hoping that Bianca will go home soon since she seems to have a bad attitude. We'll see what happens on Wednesday, but hopefully Kimberly and Bianca will be in the bottom two!

Jon Stewart is the most awesomely funny man alive!

2007-02-22T14:14:00.000-05:00

In the episode, post Dick Cheney's blowup at Wolf Blitzer, "I object to your question", Jon Stewart was a god among comedians...

He has Chrissy Gephardt on the show (who is also gay and the daughter of a politician) and he asks her:

"Now when did you first know that you were the daughter of a politician?"

"Do you think that your father chose to be a politician?"

"Do you think that politicians should be allowed to raise children?"

"Now let's say for argument's sake that Strom Thurmond had a black daughter..."

Jon Stewart, I love you...

Funny.

2007-02-04T14:51:00.000-05:00

Is this great or what?

From Nicholas Kristof's op-ed today:

' A reader named Melissa S. e-mailed to say that she explains Iraq policy to her 8-year-old son in terms of Harry Potter characters: “Dick Cheney is Lord Voldemort. George W. Bush is Peter Pettigrew.” Don Rumsfeld is Lucius Malfoy, while Cornelius Fudge represents administration supporters who deny that anything is wrong. And, she concludes, “Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter is Fox News.” '

Now who would you say is Colin Powell, Condi, and Alberto Gonzales are?

My thoughts are Colin Powell is the elder Crabbe and Goyle -- just do what they are told, don't make their opinions known. Maybe Alberto Gonzales is a dementor since he sucks people's souls out while torturing them. And Condi, perhaps Bellatrix Lestrange? Voldemort's most faithful death eater... Rufus Scrimgeor would be someone trying to create diversions and pretend like everything is okay.

Now the big question is, who are Harry, Ron and Hermione?

The U.S.'s Iran Policy

2006-12-31T00:47:00.002-05:00

Nicholas Kristof's Op-Ed today nicely puts how I feel about President Bush ordering some sort of military stike on Iran:

"Seventh, put aside those thoughts of a military strike on Iranian nuclear sites, and make it clear to Israel that we oppose it conducting such an attack. A strike would set back Iran’s nuclear programs by only five years or so, but it would consolidate hard-line rule there for at least 25 years."

FYI, the "seventh" is among the 10 suggestions Kristof has for President Bush. The thing I love about Nicholas Kristof's writing is he can write about politics without seeming political. I wish I had that gift.

Michigan should be in the national championship game!

2006-12-02T16:59:00.000-05:00

I keep saying it, but I'm right damnit. Michigan should be in the national championship game with Ohio State. My reasons are as follows: Michigan has only one loss (to Ohio State on Ohio State's home turf). There's no doubt that winning on OSU's home turf is an extremely difficult task and no other team in national championship contention has had to face such a difficult task. USC lost on the road to Oregon State and could barely finish off Arizona State at home. I mean, really, who are these teams? If USC can't perform well against Oregon State and Arizona State, how do they expect to do well against Ohio State. Another complaint against USC, how is it possible that they get all their ranked opponents at home? And still they have one loss. Michigan had a very difficult schedule (much more difficult than OSU's) and still only has one loss. For these reasons, Michigan deserves another shot at OSU on neutral territory. The entire media is so biased in favor of USC, it's unfair. I would give USC credit if they've done anything to merit it, but they have not yet done so. All I can say now, is Go Bruins!

The Departed

2006-12-02T16:50:00.000-05:00

I finally saw "The Departed" and I think this will finally be the film that gets Martin Scorsese an Oscar. If it doesn't I'd be very very surprised. The film was done very well. Good story, good acting, etc. I enjoyed the movie a lot and I would recommend it to anyone. The movie was quite long at 2.5 hours, but I hardly noticed this fact. I also think that Leonardo DiCaprio is becoming (or has already become) quite the seasoned actor. He was excellent in the Aviator and didn't let down in the Departed. I'll be looking forward to seeing him in Blood Diamond, the new film that DeBeers is all in uproar about.

Another interesting point of the Departed -- it's set in Boston and I enjoyed the many references to Boston, the Boston accents, etc.

Election Results

2006-11-12T23:50:00.000-05:00

I know that my post on the election is far too late... but here goes. I have a lot of thoughts on the election results as I stayed up late Tuesday night watching the election results come in. (I even saw Missouri called for Claire McCaskill). Let me start by saying that I was pleasantly surprised that democracy still exists in this country and that the majority of people aren't willing to give the President blind confidence in the Iraq war. I have to agree with Tom Delay who said this was not a vote for Democrats but a vote against Republicans. Who knew that I would ever agree with Tom Delay? I guess it had to happen at least once in my lifetime. I also agree with some nameless CNN commentator who said that conservative era is not over in America, witnessed by the majority of conservative Democrats elected in the midterm elections (Lieberman over Lamont, ex-Republican Jim Webb, Jon Tester and others). As a liberal, and someone who is very socially liberal, I find this disappointing, but one has to find common ground and this is better than nothing.

I'm not really sure that the Democrats deserve to have the majority in both the Senate and the House, but they better not squander this opportunity or they will surely lose the White House in 2008. I, for one, am hoping that the vast majority of Democrats can grow a spine very quickly. Speaker-to-be, Nancy Pelosi said that she had a number of initiatives that she hopes to push through in the first 100 hours of the new session of Congress, including stem cell research initiatives, raising the minimum wage (it's about time!), and implementing all the recommendations by the 9/11 commission among other things. Let's hope they do indeed get pushed through in the first 100 hours of Congress. I'm crossing my fingers for the Democrats because I think the future of this country depends on them growing a spine in the next two years so that there are some checks to George W. Bush's already enormous and unquestioned power.

Now let's talk about the actual election results... I like everyone else I know did a happy dance when I heard that Rick Santorum lost. He may have done some good things while he was in the Senate but I believe he did much more harm than good by his preachings of intolerance and hatred. Anyone who likens homosexuality to bestiality and adult-children sexual relationships should have no place in public office. I was also happy to see that George Allen lost. (By the way, Frank Rich wrote a terrific editorial on why I hate George Allen in today's New York Times). He called an Indian-American volunteer for the Webb campaign, "macaca, or whatever his name is" and welcomed him to America. Apparently this "macaca" was born in the US and is well versed in the American political system, having been an intern for Joe Lieberman and a volunteer for the Webb campaign. For some reason unknown to the masses, it took George Allen over a week to apologize for this incident. My favorite sentence in Frank Rich's article was, "Once it became clear that Mr. Allen was in serious trouble, conservative pundits mainly faulted him for running an “awful campaign,” not for being an awful person. " Seriously though, I think white Americans everywhere should be extremely embarrassed at George Allen's comments. Happily though, he is no longer a presidential hopeful for 2008 along with one Rick Santorum. Let's hope that we can keep these two hate-mongerers out of the presidential race.

I think it was expected that Democrats would win the House, but not by as much as they did. As proof that even extremely conservative districts can be changed to blue, Mark Foley's district and Tom Delay's district went to Democrats. I do agree with CNN analysts though that these district will likely turn over to Republicans in the next election. Perhaps more surprising than the House was that Democrats won the Senate. Even when there were three races undecided, Missouri, Montana and Virginia, it seemed unlikely that Democrats would capture all three races. As Democrat candidates were pulling ahead with slim margins, I was crossing my fingers. It was funny to see that before these elections were called, the Democratic candidates were making speeches at their campaign headquarters and calling the elections for themselves, much like President Bush did in 2000.

I was happy to see that the negative campaign ads against Democratic candidates for the House in a lot of states that warned against having Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House were largely unsuccessful. Now only if the ads against Harold Ford, Jr. were equally unsuccessful. Using Southernerss antiquated opinion of white women dating black men against anyone (let alone a promising young statesman like Harold Ford, Jr.) was a cheap shot.

And finally, the best news of the whole election was that Rummy is OUT! I know that this won't undo the damage that Rumsfeld has done in the past six years, but I'm happy to see that one of the most arrogant and oblivious of the Bush administration officials has been canned. It's also a good sign that President Bush is starting to admit that things are not going well (and by not going well, I mean not going well AT ALL) in Iraq. It is more likely that in the next two years, the Bush administration will make realistic decisions when it comes to Iraq instead of living in a fantasy world. I think Rumsfeld should have been fired a long time ago, but at this point, I will take what I can get. In conclusion, change is good and was much needed. Again, here's to hoping that the Dems don't let us down.

Desperate Housewives

2006-11-07T01:53:00.000-05:00

I must admit, I'm really enjoying Desperate Housewives these season. When I first saw the advertisements for Desperate Housewives, I was very skeptical... In fact, I thought, Wow! ABC must be really running out of ideas.... But really what's not to like? Especially this season, which seems like it's ready for a comeback after a disappointing Season 2. Orson is so evil, I like it! And Edie trying to (and successfully) duping Mike into thinking that he never loved Susan and that she was always the good one. Nora putting the moves on Tom... The whole supermarket shootout... Mike's amnesia... It's so cliche, I love it! I am very intrigued by this Monique person and how she is connected to Mike. I suspect that Orson is a serial killer due to his mother who apparently we meet in the next episode and that Orson was in jail with Mike rather than a prison dentist. But does Orson know that Mike knew Monique? Oh, the questions....

Another reason why St. Louis should lose!

2006-10-25T18:32:00.000-04:00

The St. Louis Cardinal's pitcher, Jeff Suppan, will appear in a commercial urging the voters of Missouri to oppose stem cell research and vote against Amendment 2 to the State's Constitution. I strongly support stem cell research and don't think that Jeff Suppan, who does not have a terminal illness, should use his athletic success to sway voters. I'm sure if Suppan had a relative suffering from Alzheimer's or Parkinson's or some other illness where stem cell research could potentially help, he would feel very differently.

I hope St. Louis dies a bloody death in the World Series.

Go Tigers!

Can Michigan State football rebound?

2006-10-19T15:21:00.000-04:00

Things are looking not so good for the Michigan State Spartans who are now 3-4. Can they have a miraculous turnaround in terms of their luck and morale and finish the season respectably? History says no, but there is a first time for everything. With five games remaining and three of them away games, I must admit, that I am rather doubtful. The remaining five games are Northwestern (on the road), Indiana (on the road), Purdue (at home), Minnesota (at home), and Penn State (on the road). I predict that the Spartans will be Northwestern on Saturday prompting a turnaround of their season, but if they do not succeed at beating Northwestern and Indiana, I suspect that they will lose their last 3 games (since they are against good teams). These next two games are crucial for the Spartans. Let's hope for the sake of John L's job and Drew Stanton's professional career that the Spartans can bounce back.

World Trade Center movie?

2006-08-13T15:35:00.000-04:00

I think it's really silly that Hollywood is trying to capitalize on September 11th with such movies as World Trade Center and United 93. The tragedy that was September 11th was really devastating and it is much too soon to have Hollywood capitalizing on the events and too soon to be glorifying it for the sake of pro-American patriotic propaganda. Doing the second is a disgrace to the memory of those who died....

In addition to this, I am really annoyed at the terrorists in the UK for plotting something, can we please talk about something else besides terrorism? God damn Al Qaeda for turning American politics into what it is today.

Also on the note of terrorism, I saw the most ridiculous commercial on TV recently. It had a little child and a narrator saying, "Does your child know what to do in the event of terrorist attack?" much like the commercials we used to have growing "Does your child know what to do in the event of fire?" Such commercials have political undertones and are just playing on the fears of Americans. Certainly those who live in New York City, DC and LA have more than a 0.00001% chance of being the victim of a terrorist attack, but for the rest of us the odds are very very slim. I wish the media wouldn't perpetuate this myth that the likelihood of terrorist attack is greater than it really is.

Crisis in the Middle East

2006-07-28T18:01:00.000-04:00

I wonder if the current violence in the middle east will accomplish anything other than help in recruiting the next generation of leaders for Hezbollah. It is all very sad.

Fox News is Terrible

2006-06-05T22:13:00.000-04:00

I was watching Fox News the other day (don't ask me why!) and it is really awful... I hadn't realized just how awful it is. I watched for about an hour -- first they covered the Haditha massacre. As part of the storythey interviewed this woman who was saying, "Now we don't know exactly what happened. Let's not jump to conclusions. " She was also blaming the New York Times and the LA Times for trying to turn it into the next Abu Ghraib. Someone should have informed this woman that we do have a decent idea of what happened at Haditha... Immediately after this story, they had a story on the kind of hostility that American troops face. The gist of the story being, if American troops committed unspeakable unatrocities in Haditha, they were justified in doing so. All the while at the bottom, the news ticker was saying things such as, "Terror Alert: Elevated" and how someone interviewed in Farenheit 9/11 was upset that their interview was construed to be anti-war, when they are actually pro-war. And not to mention that children in the UK are using the Da Vinci Code as fact on their essays and exams and teachers in the UK are having to remind the students that it is fiction.

I mean really! They shouldn't be allowed to call themselves a news channel. Pretty ridiculous in my opinion.

Go Pistons!

2006-05-31T16:46:00.000-04:00

Eek! At the beginning and middle of this season, I would never have though the Pistons would be in such a situation, but they are down 1-3 to the Heat and are great jeopardy of losing their "Eastern Conference Champion". Hopefully the return to Detroit will revive their chances in this series. I'd just like to say that Dwayne Wade and Shaq suck! (Well not really, Shaq proved that the Lakers were stupid for keeping Kobe and letting him go -- VERY STUPID!). Anyway, root for the Pistons tonight!

Al Gore is my hero!

2006-05-31T16:41:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to dedicate a post to Al Gore, because I like him a lot and I really really wish that he won the election in 2000. Actually he did win the election, it was heinously stolen from him by this "cabal" of do-no-gooders. I think Al Gore is genuine, not at all boring (eat shit Karl Rove), and is one hell of a smart guy. In 2005, I had the pleasure of going to one of Al Gore's climate change seminar things (or whatever you call them) and found him to be engaging, passionate and a great public speaker. Given this, I cannot wait to see "An Inconvenient Truth". Anyone want to go with me?

King for short?

2006-05-28T15:10:00.000-04:00

I do not like the name that Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani gave their new baby boy, Kingston James McGregor Rossdale. Do they call him King for short? And where did the McGregor come from? Are they fans of Ewan McGregor? Well hopefully the boy will look like Gavin Rossdale to make up for the unfortunate name!

Angie has her baby!

2006-05-28T15:00:00.000-04:00

In response to my previous post I thought I would mention that Angelina Jolie had her baby yesterday and named her Shiloh -- Shiloh Noveul Jolie Pitt. So, my friends, what do you think of that one?

In other news, my computer is broken, must take it to get fixed if it can be -- my friend Loizos informs me that Windows needs no excuse to go kaputt! In the meantime, I feel disconnected from the world, not able to get my email and chat online as often as I would like!

If you had a kid, what would you name it?

2006-05-14T22:40:00.000-04:00

Hollywood actors and actresses give their kids such strange names.... Which do you think is the strangest:

Coco (to Courtney Cox and David Arquette)
Apple and Moses (to Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin)
Roman (to Debra Messing and who is her husband?)
Rowan and Grier (to Brooke Shields and Chris Henchy)
Matilda Rose (to Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger)
Sean Preston and ? (to Miss Britney and KFed)
Maddox and Zahara and ? (to Angie and Brad)
Rumer, Tallulah and Scout (Demi and Bruce W.)
Milo (Liv Tyler and Royston Langdon)
Finn (short for Phinneaus) and Hazel (to Julia Roberts)
Ryder (to Kate Hudson)
Suri (to Tom "I am fucking crazy" Cruise and Katie "I've been brainwashed" Holmes)

My thoughts: Coco? That's what I would name my brown puppy dog. Apple and Moses? The only reason they are not going to get made fun of is because they are frickin' rich. Roman? Like the empire? What was Debra thinking? Rowan and Grier? Rowan makes me think of the roan coat that we studied in genetics and Grier makes me think of Greer Garson... Slightly pretentious sounding, but okay I guess. Matilda? Not cool, even Roald Dahl would disapprove. Sean Preston, hmm, sounds white trash-y, but maybe that's because he was born to the trashiest couple... I think Hazel and Milo are kind of cool. Phinneaus makes me think of that book that we read in high school that was set at Exeter... what's it called again? To Miss Suri Cruise, her name is going to be the least of her problems. I just don't like Rumer, Tallulah or Scout. I would never name my kid Ryder, Maddox or Zahara, but they seem to suit their parent's style well... hopefully they will suit their kid's style as well.

eeewww, gross...

2006-04-11T17:04:00.000-04:00

from Kristof's op-ed today about sugary drinks being the bane our existence:

"Earlier this year, a medical journal warned doctors that their injections are often ineffective, because American rumps are now so massive that a standard needle frequently cannot reach muscle through all the blubber."

NCAA Tournament

2006-03-19T19:21:00.000-05:00

After Ohio State's 70-52 point loss to Georgetown, the Big Ten is officially out of the Sweet Sixteen. Too bad, I say, though my friends from Michigan would beg to differ. My reasoning is that it makes the Big Ten look very weak as whole, even though I'm supposed to hate Ohio State. Ohio State was also pretty much dominated by Georgetown (now I didn't watch the game, but almost every time I checked the score they were at least 10 points down and at the end they didn't bother "doing the fouling thing" -- that my sister hates so much), and Ohio State is supposedly the best of the Big Ten! I think the gist of this is that Ohio State wasn't playing like a 2 seed. Iowa lost at the last second to Northwestern State, who was in turn dominated by West Virginia (they only lost by 13, but they were down by 20+ at times). So perhaps OSU and Iowa were both overseeded. Maybe MSU has an excuse because George Mason is playing pretty well these days and they beat UNC, the defending champions, but UNC did look a bit complacent and Roy Williams' team doesn't seem to do well against defensive powerhouses period. For MSU, it was a disappointing end to a disappointing season -- hopefully next year their bench will be a bit deeper. Indiana struggled in the first round against San Diego State (but I guess Steve Fisher is building a good program at SDSU). Indiana didn't do terribly against Gonzaga, I was hoping that their season would last a bit longer for Mike Davis's sake. Wisconsin was blown out by 20+ points by Arizona, that was just pathetic, I bet the NCAA selection committee was thinking, why did we invite Wisconsin again? I think Illinois did okay, they weren't clobbered by Washington, but they should have beaten them.

In summary, what a sad year for the Big Ten! Hopefully next year will be better. Specifically hopefully next year will be better for MSU! :)

South Indian Recipes

2006-03-04T13:05:00.000-05:00

My friend's mom just started a recipe blog with her favorite South Indian recipes colored with stories from her childhood:

http://indianfusioncooking.blogspot.com/

It looks really nice (I especially like the stories from her childhood), I wish I had some time to try these recipes!

Mo Dowd hits the nail on the head

2006-02-12T23:10:00.000-05:00

I know this is a bit late, but I really liked Maureen Dowd's Op-Ed on Saturday. It was a nice change from her usually over-the-top, trying-to-be-cleverly-funny-without-any-coherent-thought style. She makes some excellent, excellent points, partly because she came to the same conclusions that I made just a day before I had read her article. I liked the way she describes how the Bush Administration plays the "terror card" time and time again. Whenever opinion polls dip too low or the Bush adminstration does something illegal or unethical, we hear of some attempted or thwarted terror plot that likely never existed -- the most recent being the Los Angeles "terror" plot (I rolled my eyes in complete disbelief and disgust at this so-called "terror" plot when I heard it at the gym on Thursday). My favorite excerpt from Dowd's article is:

"At the Bush White House, the mere evocation of the word 'terror' justifies breaking any law, contravening any convention, despoiling any ideal, electing any Republican and brushing off any failure to govern."

Well said, Mo! I did not know this little bit of news that Miss Maureen concludes her article with:

"A final absurd junction of dysfunction was reached on Wednesday, when Republican Party leaders awarded Tom DeLay with a seat on the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department, which is investigating Jack Abramoff, including his connections to Tom DeLay."

Grrrrrr.....

Waiting for the snow to start...

2006-02-11T20:09:00.000-05:00

I wish I had a fireplace in times like these...

Bill O'Reilly to Darfur

2006-02-08T01:59:00.000-05:00

Nicholas Kristof, yesterday, wrote yet another Op-Ed smoking Bill O'Reilly. This time he called out dear ole Bill for his lame excuse on why he can't go to Darfur. Kristof asked Times readers to donate money to fund O'Reilly's trip to Darfur. I liked the following update from Kristof's blog:

"I'm just headed out the door to Columbia University to speak about -- what else? -- Darfur. But as of 7:38 a.m. this morning the pledges to finance Bill O'Reilly's trip to Darfur totalled $75,799.61. (That does not include a considerable number of people who are only willing to pay for a one-way ticket.) I'll have more updates tomorrow."

Dick Cheney is menopausal

2006-02-08T01:33:00.000-05:00

I thought this line of Maureen Dowd's Op-Ed in the New York Times today was pretty funny:

"But as the G.O.P. tars Hillary as hysterical, it is important to note that women are affected by lunar tides only once a month, while Dick Cheney has rampaging hormones every day."

NYT Op-Ed

2006-02-01T22:22:00.000-05:00

I rather enjoyed this paragraph in Sarah Vowell's Op-Ed in the New York Times:

"In fact, it has been said that God is currently angry with America. But according to God's publicist, the Supreme Being would like to clarify that He's not angry, but that 'He would like His name taken off the credits.' "

State of the Union

2006-02-01T09:42:00.000-05:00

No surprise here, the state of the union really annoyed me. Bush went on and on about having freedom in other countries while he's trying so hard to take away freedoms at home. He looks like a hypocrite, preaching about democracy while eroding the very principles our country was founded on. I guess I was a little surprised about how tame his stance was on Iran. He didn't say, "You disarm or we will" (from my 2004 Bushisms page a day calendar). I guess he can't threaten them the way he did with Iraq because our military is already overextended. Really I have no objection to Iran pursuing its nuclear weapons program because many other nations (including the U.S. of course) have lots of nuclear weapons, so why shouldn't Iran. It's a complete double standard that Bush expects Iran to disarm, while we won't and while we have far more nuclear weapons than all other nations combined.

Bush praised the memory of Coretta Scott King, but I don't think that he really cares about social equality in the U.S. I was surprised that he mentioned human trafficking and human rights in other parts of the world -- seemed very unRepublican of him. I think his spiel about exploring alternate energy sources was just lip service. Actually, that is the way I feel about most of his talk.

Other Observations:

John McCain looked like he was sucking on a sour lemon during Bush's speech. Coincidence? I think not.

Alito looked dazed and confused, like being present for the State of the Union in a robe was a surreal experience.

When Bush was talking about the wiretapping, there was one part where he was not reading from his prompter and it was so obvious. He was like, "If people is talking, we gotta know about it". Ha! That point was made really badly though. He was like, "Two of the hijackers made phone calls to Al Queda abroad." It's like WHAT? If you didn't suspect something was going to happen, how does the ability to eavesdrop on two phone calls out of millions make a difference? You would have to know where to look. I find it insulting that Bush implies that 9-11 could have been prevented had he had the ability to spy on civilians.

The Democratic response was not delivered well -- Tim Kaine is not a good speaker.

The New World

2006-01-31T21:11:00.000-05:00

The New World was the most boring movie ever. I'm not sure why it got such good reviews. To make things worse, Lolo and I split a bottle of wine before the movie and I had done intervals at the gym. Too bad Lolo was sitting so far away from me, otherwise I would have fallen asleep on her shoulder. I'd like to add that Christian Bale is so much cuter than Colin Farrell. I don't like Colin Farrell's sleazy, slicked-back-hair look. No wonder Pocahontas choose Christian Bale.

Match Point

2006-01-28T12:06:00.000-05:00

I saw Match Point with Lolo last night -- it was a really interesting movie, the kind that makes you go hmmm, but leaves you a bit unsettled at the same time. Obviously there are spoilers, so don't continue reading if you want to see the movie. My favorite part of the movie was the choice of music actually. The opera music was a nice touch in scenes where they weren't at the opera and I liked how intense the music got when Chris killed Noella. I also really liked the tennis motif about how the ball can bounce forward or backward when it hits the net and how that can be the deciding factor in a match. When this motif is mentioned again, and the ring bounces backward, away from the river, I thought that it was supposed to be bad luck and was genuinely surprised when it turned out to be good luck. The movie is unsettling because Chris got away with two murders and his wife never found out about his affair. I also got the impression that Chris did everything for purely selfish reasons, making the movie more unsettling (I guess I just really like my happy endings). One really negative thing about the movie is the scene where Noella and her neighbor come back to life. This scene is very undeveloped and sticks out like a sore thumb -- though in the movie's defense, those scenes are hard to do right... Overall, I liked the movie -- it was fun to watch and listen to the opera music.

Is something wrong with me?

2006-01-18T01:34:00.000-05:00

A number of news sources have been stating that the confirmation of Alito is inevitable and that Alito, since he tiptoed around the abortion question, likely does not believe that abortion is settled law. So recently, a number of columnists have been speculating what the Alito confirmation means for women's rights. I am pro-choice and whole-heartedly back a woman's right to choose in every situation. I do not believe that this right should be restricted in any way. Therefore, I do not think that a woman should have to get her parents' or her husband's consent before she has an abortion and I do not think that partial-birth abortions should be banned (yes I do have a heart for you conservatives reading my blog). Despite this, I do not find my heart-breaking over an Alito confirmation because of what it means for abortion rights. As a social liberal and a feminist (and yes I do shave my legs -- that has nothing to do with feminism), I would have thought that I would be more bothered by what the change in the Supreme Court means for women's reproductive rights. Perhaps I think that Roe v. Wade couldn't be easily overturned since a majority of the public backs it or perhaps I think that overturning Roe v. Wade wouldn't mean the end of abortion. Perhaps I have a hard time identifying with abortion, because it seems so far removed from my life right now. Maybe fighting over abortion rights seems so silly when I read articles in the New York Times detailing the widespread practices of female genital mutilation and virginity testing.

Beauty and the Geek

2006-01-15T16:16:00.000-05:00

Apparently the WB has this show called "Beauty and the Geek", where socially-challenged men (the geeks) are paired up with academically-impaired women (the beauties) and compete in a series of contests... It got me thinking, why isn't it the other way around, where the women are the geeks and the men are the beauties?

Has Laura Bush lost all her marbles?

2006-01-13T19:06:00.000-05:00

Laura Bush backs Condoleezza Rice for president.

Alito confirmation hearings

2006-01-11T21:35:00.000-05:00

I find the Alito confirmation hearings a complete waste of time. Alito's job during the hearings is to reveal as little information (about his real opinions) as possible so that he will get confirmed. I find it really hard to believe that Alito does not know how he would have ruled on Bush v. Gore. Anyone with any sort of legal inclination knows how they would rule on such a case! I also find it hard to believe that Alito didn't much about the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, didn't participate in any of the activities, yet wrote it on his resume. A lot of what he says doesn't add up. I also didn't like when the 1985 memo for the Reagan administration (in which he seemed very anti-Roe) came up, he said something like he was telling a potential employer what they wanted to hear. Very slimy indeed!

Two Articles on Procrastination I Found Particularly Interesting...

2006-01-08T16:13:00.000-05:00

The first is a general article by Paul Graham that is short and applies to many things in life (not just research). The second is by the great Richard Hamming and is longer and is more limited to research. I found both really interesting, though I admit I did not finish the Hamming article, but will soon.

My favorite part of the Graham article, "But the trouble with big problems can't be just that they promise no immediate reward and might cause you to waste a lot of time. If that were all, they'd be no worse than going to visit your in-laws. There's more to it than that. Big problems are terrifying. There's an almost physical pain in facing them. It's like having a vacuum cleaner hooked up to your imagination. All your initial ideas get sucked out immediately, and you don't have any more, and yet the vacuum cleaner is still sucking."

Thanks to Sean for pointing me to these articles.

Memoirs of a Geisha

2005-12-22T13:52:00.000-05:00

I saw Memoirs of a Geisha last night with Peiqiu and Lolo. Overall, the movie was not bad -- it was a bit long and had this feeling of dragging on, but the acting in the movie (Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, and Michelle Yeoh) was definitely the highlight. Zhang Ziyi was good, but I definitely have to say that Gong Li was excellent as the temperamental and vindictive Hatsumomo. The book was definitely better since it was a better medium to explain the lifestyle of a geisha and the feelings involved. Lolo said that had she not read the book, the movie would be hard to understand because it could explain everything completely. I can see that, but I guess that's the problem with turning books into movies -- there's no way to go into as much detail. Minor things that bugged me were that the Chairman (Ken Wantanabe) looked far too young. Also, the young Chiyo is described as the year of the rooster, but isn't that Chinese Zodiac and not Japanese Zodiac? I guess I cannot give the movie a ringing endorsement, but I'm sure that Zhang Ziyi will be nominated for an Oscar for her role as Chiyo/Sayuri. I wouldn't be surprised either if Michelle Yeoh was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mameha. Gong Li was really good, but for some reason I don't really see that role as a Best Supporting Actress role.

Rent

2005-11-30T12:53:00.000-05:00

I recently saw Rent with my sister Reena and I absolutely loved it despite what critics say. For some reason Rent got really awful reviews.

The movie "Rent" featured all but two of the original cast members (Rosario Dawson replaced an expectant Daphne Rubin-Vega and Tracie Thoms replaced Fredi Walker). I did not know the African American detective on Law and Order, Jesse L. Martin, got his start playing Tom Collins on Rent. I was pleasantly surprised by his voice. Actually, when Rent opened on Broadway in 1996, a lot of the actors/actresses were no name people but Rent made them big stars. Idina Menzel (stars in Wicked) is another well-known Broadway actress who got her start with Rent. I also did not know that Taye Diggs (Benny) is a Broadway actor and is married to Idina Menzel.

Okay, I'm getting off track, but I really liked the casting. I really liked Roger and Mark -- Roger (Adam Pascal) has a great voice and I liked Mark's (Anthony Rapp) nasal, quirky voice. Maureen (Idina Menzel) was really good during the song, "Leap of Faith", at the protest and the song "Take Me or Leave Me". Rosario Dawson wasn't bad as Mimi, but there is no way she can compare with Daphne Rubin-Vega in terms of the sheer power of her voice -- perhaps that was the only negative thing I noticed. Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Angel) made a very believable transvestite. Critics complain that the original cast looks too old now, but I wasn't really paying attention to that. I suppose now in retrospect that I think about it, I agree, but it's not a big deal and doesn't detract from the movie.

There is also no doubt that Jonathan Larson's original play is a masterpiece regardless of the casting. The message of "No Day But Today" is a powerful one. I like the songs very much as well (despite what critics say). I mean, who cannot like "Seasons of Love"? It's a really beautiful song. Other notable songs include "525,600 Minutes", "One Song Glory", "Living in America", "Take Me Out Tonight", and "No Day But Today".

I can't wait for Rent to come out on DVD so I can buy it -- it is the ultimate feel good movie with great songs.

My favorite parts of the movie were (spoilers of course):

- La Vie Boheme, especially the lines "to sodomy is between God and me" (someone should tell that to Antonin Scalia and Rick Santorum)

- Benny disclosing that Allison's pet has died and Angel trying to look innocent

- At Angel's funeral, Mimi quotes Angel (to a skinhead), "I'm more man than you'll ever be and more woman than you'll ever have."

- When the homeless woman says, "Hey artist, gotta a dollar?" to Mark after yelling at him.

Jumping Panda

2005-11-23T18:26:00.000-05:00

I have uber-busy lately (and will be probably until we break for the December holidays) so I haven't really been posting entries on politics because those take me a bit more time to write. Those of you who miss politics should read my sister's blog, Jumping Panda, because she does a good job of updating often enough and she is like a better version of Maureen Dowd (I think she may kill me for that one). I'll try to write about politics though, especially now, because it is oh so nice to see Bush on the hot seat for once. (Not because I am a sadist, because it's proof that what goes around comes around). Even Dick Cheney has to go around and change his image and encourage healthy debate about the war. Haha, you know when that happens the public wants his ass fried on a platter (okay, maybe it's just me). Anyway, happy thanksgiving!

If you have a lot of time to waste...

2005-11-21T01:05:00.000-05:00

These political cartoons can be addictive (yes, they are very good). I must acknowledge my sister Sonia for pointing me to the link.

Assault on Pork

2005-11-20T02:09:00.000-05:00

So I was curious to see what the number 1 hit for "Assault on Pork" is in Google and after much anticipation I present the result in my blog:

Ladies and Gentlemen, the number 1 hit for "Assault on Pork" iiiisssss (drumroll pleeeeaaasse) Assault With A Pork Chop.

Sad Day for the State of Michigan

2005-11-19T20:55:00.000-05:00

What a bad day for the entire state of Michigan on rivalry weekend! Ohio State overcame a 9 point deficit to beat Michigan (I do wish I could have watched more of this game, my sister said it was pretty exciting at the end) and Penn State beat the sloppy Spartans 31-22. Michigan State finishes 5-6, after starting out 4-0 with such high hopes for the season. My sister and I watched the end of this game at Cambridge One -- the food and the beer and the company were all great, but the game was not so good. Everytime it looked like MSU could mount a comeback, they committed a turnover. It's like they wanted to lose the game. No actually, it's like someone paid the kicker to botch the game -- he made so many mistakes that no Division I college player should ever make (even in practice!). So Penn State earns a BCS berth and shares the Big Ten title with OSU (OSU could still win an at-large BCS bid), while MSU goes to no bowl game and Michigan goes to one that is not quite as good as the ones they normally go to. (I hear my friend Ben saying, "Our team will be playing on New Year's Day, although yours probably won't be in a New Year's Day bowl"). Sigh, if only they were in any bowl!

It's laughable how Illinois and Northwestern are rivals and Purdue and Indiana are rivals. Perhaps I should not be laughing at this as my team just lost 6 of their last 7 games.

What I miss about moving to the Northeast is quality football viewing. People in the Northeast don't appreciate football nearly as much as they should and the teams don't play nearly as well as they should.

Hmmm, wonder how that Harvard-Yale game went....

Question For P&P Fans

2005-11-17T23:34:00.000-05:00

Question: Would Jane have married Mr. Collins had he proposed to her instead of Elizabeth?

Movie Review of Pride and Prejudice

2005-11-14T01:30:00.000-05:00

I recently saw the new movie version of Pride and Prejudice (starring Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadyen) with Peiqiu and Yuaning. (Don't worry, I will warn you when the spoilers start and end. ) When I first heard that there was going to be yet another Pride and Prejudice movie, I thought, "Not again! There is no way it will be as good as the BBC version and no one can compete with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy." While the latter remains true (Colin Firth is still my all-time favorite Mr. Darcy), this new adaptation of Jane Austen's most famous novel was quite good. After viewing this film, I left the theater without a care in the world and a big goofy smile on my face (though perhaps that is due to Jane Austen's remarkable story rather than the power of this movie).

The best part of the movie I believe was the casting. Before seeing this movie, I thought of Keira Knightley as a mediocre actress, but she made a great Elizabeth Bennett. The angelic-looking Rosamund Pike was exactly as Jane Austen had meant Jane Bennett to be and Jena Malone made for a very believable Lydia. Judi Dench was excellent as the severe and opinionated Lady Catherine de Bourg. The movie mostly stayed true to the novel, although there were a few deviations which I will mention later. I think that the movie did feel rushed (much like the ridiculous Bride and Prejudice) since the movie incorporated every major plot point of the novel Pride and Prejudice. Perhaps I am biased though, I have read the book Pride and Prejudice more times than I can count and watched the BBC adaptation more than I have watched any other DVD, so any adaptation of Pride and Prejudice turns into a checklist of events that the movie must hit. I was afraid also after watching the trailer that the movie would not stay true to Jane Austen's dialogue in the novel, however I was wrong. Some of my favorite parts of the novel were used verbatim in the movie, which is of course good, because Jane Austen had a real gift for words.

Now for the spoilers...

I was really happy that Elizabeth's comment on the efficacy of poetry of driving away love was included in this movie, after being omitted from the BBC version -- it is one of my favorite lines from the book. Something very strange: When Charlotte Lucas tells Elizabeth Bennett that she is marrying Mr. Collins she adds, "... and I'm pregnant." Say what? Who knocked up Charlotte Lucas!?! Seems a bit too farfetched and replaces the real reason why she married Mr. Collins (i.e. makes her need to marry immediate and therefore somewhat more acceptable that she married Mr. Collins). I did not like that at all. Also, why was Mrs. Hurst omitted from this story. The point of her and her husband in the book was to show that people who marry for money and class often make foolish decisions. Lydia was also not supposed to know that Mr. Darcy paid for her marriage -- she was ignorant to the whole situation. If she knew that Mr. Darcy was the reason that she was not facing a life of shame, she wouldn't be able to speak about the whole situation so casually. I noticed that a lot of lines were rotated between characters (not a huge deal to the average person but if you've read the book as many times as I have it makes you wince). For example, the exchange, "Wickham's a fool if he takes her for a farthing less than 10 thousand pounds" and "Heaven forbid! How is half a sum to be repaid!" was between Elizabeth and Jane, rather than Mr. Bennett and Elizabeth. (Mr. Bennett would be much more likely to know that than Elizabeth). Okay, I guess I'm nit-picking.

End of the spoilers...

Overall, Pride and Prejudice was very enjoyable -- I highly recommend it to others. It brings out the romantic in everyone (even those of us who pride ourselves on not being romantics).

On the word "Slut"

2005-11-11T14:27:00.000-05:00

I really don't like the word "slut". I was trying to explain this the other day to my officemates, but I'm not sure that I fully got my point across, so I feel like writing about it. This topic came up after one of my officemates mentioned the Priscilla Ball at HBS where "men are supposed to dress as women and women are supposed to dress like sluts". (I think my tirade against the word slut is similar to something Arathi wrote on Smita's livejournal.)

The reason I don't like the word "slut" is because there is no equivalent word for men. The word "slut" has very strong negative connotations applied to it and is used to describe a woman who has a lot of sex with multiple sexual partners. Generally, a man who falls into this category is thought of as "the man" or a stud. Regardless of what you think of such behavior, that opinion should apply to both men and women. The word "slut" epitomizes the double-standard that women should be as discriminatory as possible in their choice of sexual partners whereas men should just have as much sex as possible. I think it is offensive that society thinks that women should not want to have sex (clearly that would be bad news for the future of the human race from a population perspective) and that men who have a lot of sex with multiple sexual partners are just being men. This stereotype is an injustice to both men and women and leads to strained gender relations. I find it insulting that the English language has such a word in its vocabulary.

Frisco Pigeon Mambo

2005-11-10T04:56:00.000-05:00

It's been a week since I seriously read the newspaper now (I've only been skimming the headlines), so I'll write about a book that I have been trying to read for the last three weeks. It is called Frisco Pigeon Mambo, written by C.D. Payne (author of Youth in Revolt). I've read about 60 pages, but lately, ever since I started this gym routine, I find myself ready to fall asleep before I can finish one page. Well, anyway, the book is about pigeons that are the subject of animal testing in a lab at Berkeley. The main pigeons of the story have been given sherry to drink, cigarettes to smoke, and have been told that they are human in their lab. Some animal rights activists break into the lab and set the pigeons loose on the streets of San Francisco. The pigeons begin acquiring alcohol and cigarettes through any means necessary, often stealing cigarettes right out of the mouths of pedestrians. I know, it's silly, but it's amusing. My favorite line so far is, "Pluck out my gizzard and call it pate!", spoken by the formidable pigeon Wallace. Lately I find myself looking at the pigeons of Cambridge, Massachusetts in a whole new light.

I'll try to comment on something political soon, but this homework assignment has been a huge set back in my schedule. I don't understand why I have to spend the better part of 2 days coding (and I'm still not done!) algorithms that are already available through a simple Google search. Yes, I know, it's the learning experience (that was dripping with sarcasm in case you couldn't tell).

Capote

2005-11-08T01:39:00.000-05:00

I recently saw "Capote" with my sister, so I'll share with you what I thought of it. The movie "Capote" stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote, the famous American author. The movie spans the period of time that Capote writes his non-fiction book, "In Cold Blood". "In Cold Blood" is about the brutal murder of the Clutter family in a rural Kansas town (I haven't actually read the book though I want to now after seeing this movie). Capote reads about the death of the Clutters in the newspaper and the articles piques his curiousity. Capote travels with his friend Harper Lee (author of "To Kill A Mockingbird") to Kansas to gather information about the Clutter murders. In the process, he develops a close relationship with the killers that spans a number of years.

I went into this movie with high expectations. My roommate's father said he thought the movie was great and the movie had received very good reviews by a number of critics. "Capote" fell short of my expectations -- the movie was decent, but it was quite slow at times. It also seemed as though the explanation of what actually happened was rushed after we waited nearly two hours to hear it. The plot of the movie didn't give me a full picture of the killers and the murder. Perhaps this is why I want to read "In Cold Blood" now. After reading the Wikipedia entry for Truman Capote, I think that the movie portrays Perry Smith to be one way and the book another (according to Wikipedia). What was portrayed really well in the movie was the inner conflict that Capote had with wanting to finish his book and wanting to help the killers. How this conflict affected him was also illustrated very well. Philip Seymour Hoffman did a good job (not great job) playing Truman Capote. I think he deserves to be nominated for an Oscar for his potrayal, but I'm not sure he deserves to win. He might though since I think Oscars often go to people who play characters who are out of the ordinary, so the fact that Truman Capote was especially unique helps him.

Thing of interest to me: I learned from the Wikipedia entry that Capote often boasted that he wrote significant portions of "To Kill A Mockingbird". Others have mentioned they believed him.

Addendum to the Previous Post

2005-11-07T11:24:00.000-05:00

I have been remiss about updating to my blog because of a wedding I attended this weekend and now the work that I didn't do over the weekend feels insurmountable. Back to this wedding (which was so much fun!): Two friends of mine from college got married on Saturday. In this case, Megan pursued Nick not using games or flirtations and now, four years later, they are married. I might also add that both Megan and Nick are quite smart, graduating with bachelors and masters in electrical engineering with very high GPAs. See Maureen, there is hope for both men and women in this country!

What's a Modern Girl to Do?

2005-11-04T02:02:00.000-05:00

I think my officemate is expecting me to comment on Maureen Dowd's article in the Sunday New York Times, since he sent me an email link to it. Overall I think the article was very interesting and it's no surprise that the article is still the second most emailed article of all the articles in the New York Times. (The Times maintains a list on their website and generally speaking articles only stay on for about a day). Dowd is discussing where the female sex and gender relations stand a few decades after the feminist movement. I think Maureen Dowd was a bit negative with respect to the future of the female sex and she painted men as insecure simpletons who only want a spouse to take care of them and not to talk to. The sections of her long article are entitled "Courtship", "Money", "Power Dynamics", "Ms. versus Mrs.", "Movies", "Women's Magazines", "Beauty", and "And The Future...".

In the "Courtship" section, Dowd mentions that men like to be the hunters -- they like it when women play hard to get and don't like to be denied the thrill of the chase. I don't have much experience with this, but I find it hard to believe that men don't like it when women they like express interest in them. Playing "hard to get", seems so silly -- why can't people just be up front about their feelings?

The "Money" section mainly talks about paying for dates though it does allude to a big problem today for women in the workplace -- women on average are paid less than men for the same job. This leads to the notion of "girl money" and therefore, men paying for everything. Back in the 70s, Dowd points out, "going Dutch" was the in-thing. These days, men more than ever are picking up the tab for dates -- women will half-heartedly reach for their wallets when their date says, "No I got it. It was my pleasure." I don't really think there's a problem with this -- I myself have a lot of guy friends that I hang out with where we split the bill, so I need to know the difference between just friends and something more. Picking up the tab is a way of showing that.

In the "Power Dynamics" section, Dowd talks about how men prefer to marry their subordinates over their superiors (i.e. they would rather marry their secretaries than their bosses). This doesn't really surprise me since women contribute to this notion -- us women, whether we admit it our not, have high expectations for our spouses. If we are reasonably driven ourselves, we expect our future spouses to be at least as driven or more so than ourselves. What's sad about this section is the statistics it cites. For example, Dowd cites a research study done at four British universities, "The prospect for marriage increased by 35 percent for guys for each 16-point increase in I.Q.; for women, there is a 40 percent drop for each 16-point rise." So men don't like smart women? Perhaps this is somewhat true -- maybe men don't like women who are smarter than them and women like men who are smarter than them. Dowd also quotes Bill Maher, "'Women get in relationships because they want somebody to talk to. Men want women to shut up.'" I don't think this is true at all; Maher is just stereotyping that all men are "macho men". What stood out in my mind from this section was the quote from a psychology researcher that men don't like independent women because they think that independent women are more likely to cheat on them and from an evolutionary standpoint, men minimize the risk of providing for offspring that are not their own. Hmm, interesting.

In the "Ms. versus Mrs." section, Dowd addresses the issue of name changing. During the feminist movement, women were eager to keep their names after marriage. But the trend has changed and women these days are more likely to change their names. Again, I don't think this is a big deal -- there are advantages and disadvantages of both ways; it's just an imperfect system.

In the "Movies" section, Dowd gives examples of movies such as "Love Actually" where there is this mismatch in the relationship. Dowd aptly summarizes, "The witty and sophisticated British prime minister, played by Hugh Grant, falls for the chubby girl who wheels the tea and scones into his office. A businessman married to the substantial Emma Thompson, the sister of the prime minister, falls for his sultry secretary. A novelist played by Colin Firth falls for his maid, who speaks only Portuguese." I wish I realized how sexist this movie was before I bought it!

In the "Magazine" and "Beauty" section, Dowd states she thinks that the current ideal of female beauty "is more rigid and unnatural than ever." I disagree -- While Playboy and Maxim have Pamela Anderson type women with fake breasts and extra-pouty lips, I think real men don't expect their significant others to be like that.

Dowd concludes the article on a pretty negative tone, reprimanding today's girls, "But it is equally naïve and misguided for young women now to fritter away all their time shopping for boudoirish clothes and text-messaging about guys while they disdainfully ignore gender politics and the seismic shifts on the Supreme Court that will affect women's rights for a generation." (Again, not an accurate assessment of today's young women.) One almost feels depressed when Dowd asks, "If we flash forward to 2030, will we see all those young women who thought trying to Have It All was a pointless slog, now middle-aged and stranded in suburbia, popping Ativan, struggling with rebellious teenagers, deserted by husbands for younger babes, unable to get back into a work force they never tried to be part of?" Nah, I doubt it, but then I have to doubt it.

I think Dowd makes some good points overall, but I think she is also stereotyping the average male in a bad way. She seems a bit bitter also (i.e. I'm a successful career woman that's why I'm not married), but maybe that is my imagination. Partly I find her article refreshing because I think too many women make it their sole goal in life to get married and I don't really like that. Women should view themselves as more than just what they can be to their husbands. I think that society still has this notion that there is nothing worse than being an unmarried woman and I hope that that changes.

Mithai

2005-11-02T20:11:00.000-05:00

What fantastic descriptions in this article. It has me craving for rasmalai, jalebis, boondi laddoos, and chumchums. How I miss good Indian sweets!

Senate Shutdown Today

2005-11-02T01:41:00.000-05:00

Perhaps Democrats aren't the bunch of spineless pansies we all thought they were... Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader, invoked "Rule 21" to close the Senate doors today to all but the 100 Senators in order to discuss the lack of progress in the Republican-lead inquiry into the failed intelligence that lead us into the Iraq War. The result of this closed session hearing was the appointment of 3 Republican Senators and 3 Democratic Senators to track the progress of this Republican-lead inquiry. This event has led me to hope for two things: One, that Democrats take bolder actions in the future and two, that we find out what exactly happened in the build-up to the Iraq War so that it does not happen again. Bill Frist, Senate Majority Leader, told reporters, "This is an affront on the United States of America." If that's the case, I hope to see more affronts on the United States of America. And really, Bill, shouldn't you be worrying about your legal woes rather than talking to reporters?

Ann Coulter

2005-11-01T13:50:00.000-05:00

This video is pretty amusing if you think Ann Coulter is a raving lunatic like I do. Enjoy! (Thanks to Liam for the link).

Scalito

2005-10-31T10:35:00.000-05:00

Bush has nominated Samuel A. Alito, Jr. to replace the position vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Alito has been nickname Scalia-lite or Scalito because his ideology resembles that of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Given that, I hope his nomination dies a bloody death in the Senate Confirmation hearings. Democratic Senators Harry Reid and Charles Schumer have already expressed their concerns over such a conservative nominee to the Supreme Court. Bush's base is clearly pleased though, after being upset over the nomination of Harriet Miers. Maybe my friend Smita was right -- Bush used Miers all along knowing that she would never get confirmed. Then he used it as an excuse to appoint someone ultra-conservative and someone who isn't a woman. I can just picture Bush saying, "I tried to appoint a woman, but you didn't like her." I get angry just thinking about it -- she clearly wasn't the most qualified woman for the job and there are plenty of other women besides Miers he could have nominated. I hope this is the last of the Supreme Court vacancies that Bush gets to fill. It would be sad if he replaced someone like Stevens, Ginsburg, Breyer or Souter with someone like Samuel Alito, Jr.

Good Night, and Good Luck.

2005-10-30T12:13:00.000-05:00

I recently saw "Good Night, and Good Luck" with my roommates. The movie is about the verbal sparring between Senator Joseph McCarthy and Edward R. Murrow, CBS journalist, in the early 1950s. I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it to others. I thought Murrow's lines in the movie were excellent, though I don't know if they were taken verbatim from his actual TV show. David Strathairn did an excellent job as Edward R. Murrow and I liked how McCarthy played himself via video clips from the past -- it was very natural. I liked that the film was black and white, it highlighted things such as cigarette smoke and women's nails and lips. I thought that the film would spend more time on the actual downfall of McCarthy and his behavior during the downfall -- it just showed a few clips of the Senate hearings to censure him. I admit I only have a 10th-grade history class knowledge of what actually happened during the Red Scare so I would be curious to hear what others (specifically those who lived during that time) thought of the movie.

Snowing in Boston

2005-10-29T14:04:00.000-04:00

First snow of the season! At least it's not raining...

Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed!

2005-10-29T12:43:00.000-04:00

I was told that I need to lighten up my blog, so I hope that you find this book amusing. Be sure to "search inside this book" and click on the "excerpt" and "surprise me!" sections for maximum entertainment value.

Is this indictment bad?

2005-10-28T13:48:00.000-04:00

I am curious to know what my few readers think of this indictment. Both Kristof and Tierney said that its bad that special prosecutors have so much power and thought it would be a tragedy if Bush administration officials would be indicted on borderline charges that weren't the original charge (i.e. violation of the 1982 law making it illegal to knowingly disclose the identity of a covert CIA agent). But if during the course of the investigation people lie about what happened, shouldn't that be punished? If Pat Fitzgerald caught four separate instances of where Libby lied to the grand jury and FBI agents, I'm sure there were more. If administration officials weren't charged on such things, they would have no incentive to cooperate with the investigation -- they could just lie about what happened and not be charged on anything.

Libby Indicted

2005-10-28T13:27:00.000-04:00

I. Lewis Libby (aka Scooter Libby) has been indicted today on one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements. (I'm not sure what the difference is between perjury and making false statements but I guess I will find out.) He has subsequently resigned from his White House post, as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Karl Rove apparently will not be indicted today, but news sources say Fitzgerald will ask for an extension from the grand jury to further investigate Rove's role. I would really love to see Karl Rove indicted. It may not be right according to Nicholas Kristof or others, whose opinion I respect, but I want his brand of politics to end because it is immoral. If Karl Rove is indicted, I think it will be a blow to his brand of politics.

More to come on this... Fitzgerald is making a statement at 2 pm. I wonder if the White House will say anything.

Harriet Miers Withdraws

2005-10-27T10:36:00.000-04:00

It was the right thing to do. She didn't have the experience and she and the President were unwilling to hand over information about her capacity as a lawyer thus making it virtually impossible to learn anything about her.

White Sox Win the World Series

2005-10-27T00:02:00.000-04:00

Following in the same style as the Red Sox, the White Sox have won their first World Series since 1917. Quite impressive, swept the series 4-0! I wish I had actually watched a full game of this series, especially the 14-inning one on Tuesday night. The Red Sox last year, the White Sox this year, who next year? Someone who hasn't one since 1906!?!

Yield to Pedestrians!

2005-10-26T20:35:00.000-04:00

What is it with drivers in Cambridge, MA!?! Don't they know that they are supposed to yield to pedestrians not run them over! Today, walking home, this driver makes a right turn an inch in front of me and then proceeds to stare at me thinking, "How dare you cross when you have a walk signal!" Perhaps it's a good thing my bike got stolen, something tells me I'd be dead, or at least seriously injured, by now if I still had it.

Editorials on the Plame leak

2005-10-26T00:22:00.000-04:00

Today (well I guess now yesterday) there were a pair of Op-Eds in the New York Times on the Plame leak (well, mainly Fitzgerald's investigation) by Nicholas Kristof and John Tierney. Kristof is arguing that special prosecutors often go to far, "they become obsessive, pouncing on the picayune, distracting from governing and frustrating justice more than serving it." Kristof points out that Ken Starr was very much guilty of this, and it would be a tragedy just the same if Pat Fitzgerald also followed Starr's path. (Fitzgerald is supposedly courting the idea of indicting current White House officials on charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and revealing classified information and not on the original charge at hand of knowlingly revealing a covert CIA agent). He also states that in his opinion the administration was on the war-path against Joe Wilson and his wife . Overall, I enjoyed the unbiased perspective of Kristof's article. He did make me feel guilty by saying, "So I find myself repulsed by the glee that some Democrats show at the possibility of Karl Rove and Mr. Libby being dragged off in handcuffs." Geez, Nick, you really hit this one on the bulls-eye, I was really looking forward to that.

Tierney's article on the other hand, considered along with his previous article, was hypocritical. He complains about Pat Fitzgerald, stating that, "The special prosecutor was assigned to look for serious crimes, not to uncover evidence that bureaucrats blame other bureaucrats when things go wrong" and "Neither [of Howard Dean's reasons for Fitzgerald's investigation] involves the original reason for the special prosecutor's investigation - the accusation that White House aides deliberately outed a covert C.I.A. agent." But didn't Tierney say in his previous article that Ken Starr rightly pinned a perjury charge on Bill Clinton. Hmm, doesn't that charge fit with the same mold of charges that Fitzgerald is considering? I guess the moral of his article is that it's okay to look for petty crimes and diverge from the original investigation when Democrats are the subject of the investigation. I might add that Tierney could learn a thing or two about writing from his colleagues, Friedman, Kristof, Krugman, and Rich.

An Interesting Letter to the Editor in the NYT

2005-10-26T00:18:00.000-04:00

I was going to write something like this in response to Tierney's op-ed, but I see someone has already done it for me, so I'm copying this from the NYT letters to the editor devoted to the Plame leak.

"To the Editor:

In "Republicans Testing Ways to Blunt Leak Charges" (front page, Oct. 24), you quote Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas, saying she hoped "that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime."

Senator Hutchison, in denigrating perjury charges, has reached the heights of hypocrisy in defense of her White House friends. In 1999, based on perjury charges related to a much less significant matter, this same senator voted to remove the president of the United States from office.

Greg Litt

New York, Oct. 24, 2005"

Memoirs of a Geisha, the movie?

2005-10-25T14:26:00.000-04:00

Yes, it will be a movie released on December 9th staring Ziyi Zhang, Ken Watanabe, and Michelle Yeoh. To watch the trailer, go here. I guess I will have to see this movie, since I liked the book, though books I liked turned into movies are often disappointing.

Former Administration Official Has Nothing But Criticism for the Administration

2005-10-25T13:06:00.000-04:00

I found this article, very interesting. (I know, I know, it's from Friday). Colin Powell's former chief of staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, has harsh words for the administration he once served. Not surprisingly, some his main complaints are that the foreign policy has been hijacked by the "Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal" and that the current administration has made our country more succeptable to future crises (Hurricane Katrina being just one example). He also "suggested that secrecy, arrogance and internal feuding has taken a heavy toll in the Bush administration, skewing its policies and undercutting its ability to handle crises." Wilkerson apparently also said that President Bush, "is not versed in international relations, and not too much interested in them, either." I guess that shouldn't really come as a surprise either, but wow, how can somebody be president when they don't care about international relations -- isn't that a huge part of being president? Especially if the globalization trend continues? Wilkerson also used the terms, "aberrations", "bastardizations", and "perturbations" to describe the Bush administration's twisting of the "national security apparatus". Apparently Wilkerson contrasted George W. Bush with his father, George H.W. Bush, and called the elder Bush, "one of the finest presidents we've ever had." That could be true, George H.W. Bush was certainly not a bad president. But it certainly seems as though he was a rather poor father.

Torture by the US government

2005-10-24T23:46:00.000-04:00

The White House is threatening to veto a bill that, among other things, forbids the use of "cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment" of detainees held by the United States Government. For full details, see this article. The White House claims that this amendment to the bill should not apply to CIA actions oveseas because, "the president needed maximum flexibility in dealing with the global war on terrorism".

It is very appalling to me that this administration thinks that torture is an acceptable means of questioning prisoners. Not only is it inhumane and uncivil, our government has a policy of "innocent until proven guilty." If a prisoner is tortured enough, he or she will admit to just about anything, so torture is in fact a very ineffective method of capturing and identifying true terrorists. Torture is also bad from a selfish perspective because it increases anti-American sentiment and makes foreign governments more likely to torture American prisoners of war. It is very hypocritcal of our government to think that they have the right to torture foreign prisoners yet expect our P.O.W.s to be treated better. One might argue our administration's policy of torturing prisoners actually makes us more vulnerable to terrorists attacks. Our administration needs to unequivocally codemn all torture practices, thereby setting a standard for human rights. This is another example of the administration using "terrorism" as an excuse to do just about anything they please.

Critique of Tierney's New Op-Ed

2005-10-23T16:17:00.000-04:00

I realize that I am a day late commenting on Tierney's Op-Ed, but I was frantically trying to finish a homework assignment yesterday so it wasn't more than two days late!

Tierney's Op-Ed entitled, "What Democrats Can Learn From Howard Stern", suggests that Democrats should try to explore alternate means of achieving their goals just as Howard Stern pursued alternate means of broadcasting his show despite censorship from the FCC. The alternate means that Democrats should pursue, according to Tierney, are to look for solutions other than big government to solve issues such as education. Overall, I thought his analogy was very loosely constructed and poorly written. He simply used the Howard Stern-Democrats analogy so he could associate Democrats with something ridiculous and "out there", which is just a cheap shot. He could have used any other example of someone who overcame a barrier by pursuing alternate means of achieving their goal.

So yeah, overall I thought it his Op-Ed was just plain bad, but there were other things mentioned in the article that bothered me. For one thing he keeps referring to the fact that Democrats and liberals love big government and bureaucracy, thereby also implying that Republicans and conservatives are for small government. While this certainly was the case 20-30 years ago, I'm not so sure that this is still the case. In case Tierney hasn't noticed, our political climate is changing. George W. Bush and others in the administration are referred to as Republicans and/or conservatives, but I wouldn't say they are necessarily for small government. In fact, their policy can be defined very simply -- they are simply against things that threaten their power (my entries about the Supreme Court Nominations and the Rove/Libby mess are related to this). Hence the need for the Patriot Act, the right to torture and detain prisoners for any length, judges to defer to the president's every whim, aides who act maliciously towards those who speak against the government, etc. While the currrent administration doesn't necessarily want large government, its desire for an all powerful executive branch contradicts the notion of small government.

Supreme Court Nominations

2005-10-21T19:02:00.000-04:00

There is an interesting pair of editorials in the New York Times, one by Dahlia Lithwick and another by a state trial judge in Denver (If you are short of time, I would read the Lithwick article). The two articles complement each other though its obvious that the two writers have opposing views. Dahlia Lithwick argues that the nomination of John Roberts and Harriet Miers follows a pattern of President Bush's. By nominating Roberts, the president ensured that there would be one more judge in the nation's highest court that limits judicial power. Roberts believes that judges should strictly interpret the law of the land, thereby giving deference to the executive and legislative brances. Miers, being loyal to the current president, would also defer to the executive branch. Lithwick aptly sums up, "Justice Roberts and Ms. Miers represent a one-two punch for presidential supremacy." All I can say is hopefully Bush will be out of office before Roberts and Miers have a chance to make an impact. The other article contrasts the styles of judges who strictly interpret the law and "activist" judges. He clearly does not like "activist" judges and seems to think an "activist" judge is analogous to "a philosopher-king unencumbered by the legislation of mere mortals". It is hard for me to whole-heartedly disagree with this author, because he does not provide specific examples of "activist" judges gone wrong. But, I do think the framers of our Constitution would have wanted judges to think independently about the case at hand since our Constitution and laws provide a general framework, but are an imperfect system. There is no way to accurately represent every single legal case that might occur in a Constitution and a set of laws.

I feel obligated now to comment on the columnists Op-Eds since I have started doing that. All I can say is that Friedman's article rather bored me. He has gotten a bit carried away with the word "globalization".

Is it just me or does CNN, every other day, have a headline about someone being bit by a shark? Tragic as shark bites are, they are still extremely unlikely -- not nearly as likely as a car crash, but perhaps they are just going for sensational stories that attract more readers.

If you want to learn more about the Valerie Plame case...

2005-10-20T20:29:00.000-04:00

Please look at this timeline from factcheck.org. It is the most comprehensive timeline I've seen of the Valerie Plame case. It certainly helped refresh my memory of this case, since it has now spanned over 2 years and there have been many, many articles.

Will Libby take one for the team?

2005-10-20T19:51:00.000-04:00

Looks like Libby will be the fall-guy in the Valerie Plame affair. That was my impression after reading this article. Libby is less important of the Rove-Libby pair and was therefore probably chosen to take the hit. This administration seems to have a great supply of people willing to take a hit for the team in order for the administration as a whole to stay in tact.

White Sox vs. Astros

2005-10-20T00:31:00.000-04:00

So sad! I wanted the Cardinals in the World Series so I could watch the games with my friends Mark (Cardinals fan) and Matt (White Sox fan).

Harriet Miers

2005-10-20T00:15:00.000-04:00

Apparently Harriet Miers was asked to redo her questionaire for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Supposedly her responses were "inadequate", "insufficient", and "insulting", according to articles in both CNN and the New York Times.

My thoughts: We don't really how John Roberts is going to turn out as a Supreme Court Justice since he was sort of vague during the hearings and his track record so far as a judge does not have many clues as how he would vote on very polarizing issues, but at least we felt that he was competent. With Harriet Miers I'm not so sure. All I know about her is that she's a "pitbull in size 6 shoes" and that she's a born-again, devout Christian (It seems as though the White House was constantly mentioning her religion to prevent any real questions from being asked about her legal background). From the articles I read about her, she seems extremely loyal to President Bush, can't write very well (David Brooks Op-Ed), forgot to pay her bar dues in Washington D.C. so her law license was temporarily suspended (Maureen Dowd Op-Ed), and apparently gave Arlen Specter the impression that she needs a crash course in constitutional law. The more I hear about Harriet Miers the more I begin to doubt her qualifications for the job. If she cannot write a thorough response for the Senate Judiciary Committee, either she does not take the job very seriously or is very incompetent. I like the idea of having more women (and minorities) on the Supreme Court since it was dominated by men in the past, however it seems as all Bush was looking for when he picked Harriet Miers was a woman and a loyalty vote on the bench. That is really an insult to women everywhere and seriously undermines the goal of diversity.

Friedman article

2005-10-19T00:43:00.000-04:00

Friedman's new article is excellent. He parallels Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush in their uses and advocacy of torture and paying off journalists to promote their regime/administration. He also parallels George W. Bush and Islamic fundamentalism (i.e. George W. Bush picking Harriet Miers on her religion and telling everyone to have faith in her because she is a good Christian despite her lack of legal expertise).

The Valerie Plame Affair

2005-10-18T23:05:00.000-04:00

Of course I have to comment on the new John Tierney Op-Ed.

Basically Tierney is certain that there has been no crime committed on the part of Karl Rove or Scooter Libby in the leaking of Valerie Plame's name. He subsequently refers to Pat Fitzgerald's investigation as "Nadagate". A lot of details surrounding the Valerie Plame affair are very unclear to me, probably because only Pat Fitzgerald has a good idea of what actually happened, but I'm surprised that Tierney states unequivocally that Rove and Libby did not commit a crime and clears them of any ethical wrongdoing. Tierney makes little of what Rove and Libby likely did by saying that a prosecutor could indite just about anyone inside the government on such charges, which is completely ridiculous and stretching the truth. Even if Rove and Libby did leak her name, it's okay, because according to him, Valerie Plame was in no real danger. He also makes it seem as though Pat Fitzgerald started this investigation on a witch hunt and the investigation is getting more and more desperate to find some sort of charges against people in the current administration. Actually though, this investigation was originally started by John Ashcroft, a small detail that Tierney fails to mention.

I also object to his comparison of the Rove-Libby scandal to the Clinton scandal. Tierney makes the Clinton scandal sound worse than the Rove-Libby scandal, because in his mind Clinton in fact committed a crime whereas Rove and Libby did not. Although what Clinton did was unethical, he certainly didn't play chicken with other people's lives. Whether or not Rove and/or Libby committed a crime, it certainly seems as though as someone was trying to send Joe Wilson and others a message about what happens to those who defy the current administration. We should hold our elected officials to a high standard of professional conduct and the Plame affair certainly seems to violate that standard. I really cannot think of Pat Fitzgerald as someone on a witch hunt -- really Rove and Libby brought this investigation upon themselves as Clinton brought the Lewinsky investigation by Starr upon himself.

A letter I wrote in response to David Brooks' Op-Ed

2005-10-18T16:12:00.000-04:00

David Brooks recenly wrote an Op-Ed that I take issue with.

Here is the letter I sent him:

Everyone these days seems so eager to uncover the differences between men and women, boys and girls -- to study the fundamental differences between the sexes that will allow each one to learn better and understand each other. I must say I have serious doubts. Not only does such a research agenda sound extremely ambitious -- it sounds as one fueled by stereotypes that would only lead to more stereotypes. It seems as though, by proposing to study the innate differences between men and women, people are looking to classify the entire set of men in the world and the entire set of women in the world. The most likely scenario is that the set of women and the set of men are such rich classes incapable of being characterized, making it virtually impossible to find these "fundamental differences", if in fact, men and women are really as different as some believe.

Suppose that we were able to one day uncover the natural tendencies within a sex. Say that such a study states that men are better at math and science and women are better at art and humanities. What happens to the boy who likes art and the girl who excels at math? They will be treated as anomalies, because science says their gender was not meant for such subjects.

How does one even study the innate differences between men and women, boys and girls? From day one boys and girls are treated differently. Girls are rarely ever given tanks or G.I. Joe's for their birthdays, so its really no surprise that men prefer to read combat books over women (as you mention). Perhaps if girls were given such presents, they would also like to read combat books with the same frequency as men. Also you suggest the possibility that if boys were not required to sit still for so long, they might do better in the classroom setting. Is this not based on some stereotype that boys are rowdier than girls? If boys are in fact rowdier than girls, how do we know that it is not because we have the attitude that, "boys will be boys" while we expect our girls to be prim and proper? It seems that separating innate differences from differences that were the result of stereotypes will be an insurmountable task. Even your article, which tried to be free of stereotypes, could not.

Part of being socially responsible is asking questions we know can be answered and considering the impacts of such a study. In a society obsessed with classifications, a society where women are expected to be a certain way and men another, a society where we have names for masculine women and effeminate men, would such a study be a good thing? I am not convinced of this.

A letter I wrote in response to Tierney's Op-Eds

2005-10-18T16:07:00.000-04:00

Links to Tierney's two Op-Ed pieces: number 1 and number 2.

And here is my rebuttal letter:

After reading your last two articles, I am left with a number of comments I would like to share.

First of all, I must state that it is very surprising to me that after you wrote columns about how the innate differences between men and women lead to the fact that the top tier Scrabble players are predominately men, that you cannot understand that differences between the way liberals and conservatives think affect what career paths they choose.

You cite examples of where a conservative student in Sociology or English might have trouble pursuing their research interests, which is a valid point, but does not explain why fields such as Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, or Engineering are also very much dominated by liberals. In fact, it has been my experience that all fields of academia are dominated by liberals, whether or not politics are related to the field in question. The fact that liberals dominate every branch of academia actually weakens your claim that law professors, English professors, sociology professors and other humanities professors act maliciously to drive away conservatives. To even think about making this claim, you would need some sort of statistic that Law, English, Sociology and other humanities fields have more of a liberal bias than other fields. I would very much like to hear your reasons for why Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, Engineering, etc. also have this "liberal bias".

I also disagree that there are many conservative scholars who pursue Ph.D.s but choose to work in think tanks over academia. As a Ph.D. student at Harvard, the number of conservatives I meet are very few and far between so I would argue that those who choose to pursue a Ph.D. are much more likely to be liberal. As an undergrad, I noticed that the split between conservatives and liberals was not very big, so perhaps conservatives are more likely to go to professional schools or get jobs than liberals are.

You should be able to sleep easier at night, knowing that Republicans have been making every attempt to shoot down "liberal" branches of research such as evolution, stem cell research, and global warming.

My life experiences and observations cause me to strongly disagree with much of your article. I do not dispute the facts, but the conclusions you drew from them.

Welcome to My New Blog!

2005-10-18T16:05:00.000-04:00

At the suggestion of my sister Sonia, I decided to start a blog. It will mostly be about politics as the title suggests since I seem to have a lot to say about the New York Times op-eds in particular, but I imagine I will throw in the occasional book or movie review. The title is also a suggestion from my dear sister.