Archive for New York Sights and Sounds
A Welcome Welcome
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The long-awaited Green Card confirmation.
There are certain things that I have never felt comfortable discussing on this blog. My criticisms of the immigration system has been one of them.
Though the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service has, at times, given me cause to wonder whether they would actually be diligent enough to Google me, I did not want to wreck my chance of a Green Card by saying the wrong thing. I still have to renew this card in ten years. So, I’ll just shut up.
What I will say, however, is that after almost six years of jumping from two-year visa to two-year visa, after standing for hours in lines to be fingerprinted and photographed in Brooklyn for a Work Authorization document or to have a visa put in my passport at the US embassy in London, I am relieved that it is finally over.
For Sofie and me that means no more worrying about if, and when, we will get the next visa extension. It means no more endless form filling and waiting. It means no more costly trips to London. It also means our nighttime reading will soon be Welcome to the United States: A Guide For New Immigrants. I don’t think I realized quite how big a step we had taken, until I read the intro:
Congratulations on becoming a permanent resident of the United States of America. On behalf of the president of the United States and the American people, we welcome you and wish you every success in the United States.
The United States has a long history of welcoming immigrants from all parts of the world. America values
the contributions of immigrants, who continue to enrich this country and preserve its legacy as a land of
freedom and opportunity.As a permanent resident of the United States, you have made a decision to call this country your home. As you work to achieve your goals, take some time to get to know this country, its history, and its people. It is now both your right and your responsibility to shape the future of this country and ensure its continued success. Exciting opportunities await you as you begin your life as a resident of this great country. Welcome to the United States!
The Inauguration from Times Square
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Yesterday was quite a moving experience. A hush fell over Times Square on a couple of occasions. And when traffic stopped for the lights the area was almost silent. I cannot quite put into words why it was so special to be there with all those people at that time. But I do know that I will remember it for the rest of my life. (You can click on the gallery above for larger images.)
I would also be interested to know how many copies the New York Times sold today. My home delivery was swiped from our doorstep early this morning. And when I went to the local newsagent people were coming away carrying bundles of eight or ten copies at a time.
UPDATE: BritInBrooklyn has some great pics from Lower Manhattan.
America’s Loss
Posted by: | CommentsYou Americans, with your inauguration ceremonies and inaugural balls, your Thanksgiving Day parades and your Fourth of July fireworks displays. Do you have anything, and I mean anything, that can compare with the pageantry and grace of the great British Morris Men? (Shown here ‘wassailing’ an apple tree in Coventry to bear fruit for the coming season.) Just look what you missed out on because of your selfish little War of Independence. If not for that bid for freedom, this scene could be playing out in cities across America as you read this humble blog post. You’ve got nothing on us! Nothing at all. (PS Just in case you are wondering, that’s cider-soaked toast they are putting on the tree at the end.) (Itsallaboutcoventry via EcoExplorer.)
Media Mafia
Posted by: | CommentsIt sounds like one of the basics of journalism:
You know those two things attached to the sides of your head? Those ears? Use them. Remember that in life. Listen with both ears. You listen to one story. You listen to the other one. Someplace in the middle is the truth. It’s up to your own brains and knowledge to determine what to do, if you know the background of the people who are involved.
But it’s actually an extract from Sammy “The Bull” Gravano’s memoir, Underboss
I left that movie stunned. I mean, I floated out of the theater. Maybe it was fiction, but for me, then, that was our life. It was incredible. I remember talking to a multitude of guys, made guys, everybody, who felt exactly the same way. And not only the mob end, not just the mobsters and the killing and all that bullshit, but that wedding in the beginning, the music and the dancing. It was us, the Italian people!
I’m used to a book shedding new light on a subject. So it’s odd, and strangely gratifying, to have my prejudices confirmed by Underboss. Though I assume that Italian-Americans, who lament their depiction in the media, might disagree.
Surnow’s Revenge?
Posted by: | CommentsDid anyone notice the name of the senator grilling Jack Bauer in tonight’s season seven premier of “24?” Surely it is no coincidence that the senator’s name, Blaine Mayer, bore more than a passing resemblance to that of Jane Meyer, who wrote an unsympathetic article about “24″ co-creator Joel Surnow for The New Yorker in February, 2007.
In that article, Meyer calls out the program and Surnow for blind patriotism and for legitimizing torture as a means to an end. In tonight’s show, Senator Mayer judges Jack Bauer similarly harshly. Though not before Jack has time to call the senator “smug” and leave the Capitol to save America from the terrorists once again–using any means necessary, we suspect.
Surnow and the rest of the crew were still unhappy about the article when my editors and I visited them in the summer of 2007, while we were working on Secrets of 24
UPDATE: It seems Meyer was not amused. This from the Washington Post:
“It’s kind of flattering,” she says in an e-mail. “It’s also kind of amusing that the Tough Boys of Hollywood, who created Jack Bauer, are total cream puffs themselves, who can’t take criticism that their glamorization of torture is about as popular these days as Dick Cheney.”
(Hat tip: Dan)
