Attention all Trekkies...
If you haven't been watching Heroes (and you should be!),
now's the night to start. George Takei is guest-starring at Hiro's
father.

Apparently, none of the writers knew that Takei speaks Japanese, and
when they sent him his scenes, they sent them in English, expecting
him to translate them himself (which he did, grudgingly). I think I
read somewhere that Masi Oka (who plays Hiro) translates all of his
scenes (except, of course, for the his scenes in broken English, and
last week's ad-libbed "birrun/villain" exchange, which was
brilliant).

I really appreciate how Hiro has become the breakout star of the
series. Of course, all due praise to Masi Oka's wonderful comic
timing, but I think the writers saw something lacking in most big-
budget network TV series. Since the '60's, optimism has become a joke
in popular culture (not unjustifiably, I suppose). Most main
characters in popular TV shows are cynical and snarky, which reflects
into pop culture, and back again into entertainment. Optimists are
dismissed as naive, and our heroes are anti-heroes. If they do the
right thing, it's grudgingly, and only after a lot of whining.

And then there's Hiro (and Betty Suarez on Ugly Betty, but I
don't watch that show, so I can't analyze it). Hiro wants to do the
right thing. He sees it as not only his duty, but his
privilege to help people. He has abilities that no one else
has, and he's determined to use them for the greater good, rather
than for personal gain. That's it. No ulterior motives. No
resentment. No cynicism. And whenever he does something right, his
unabashed joy is delightful to watch.

I think we need more characters like this in pop culture. I love the
snarky anti-heroes as much as anyone (the only other two shows I
watch regularly are House and Rome), but it's so
wonderfully refreshing to have a protagonist who doesn't want to hurt
anyone; who simply wants to do the best he can for as many people as
possible, and who isn't painted as naive or foolish for wanting to do
so. And the way Americans have responded to Hiro and Betty Suarez
makes me think that other people are eager to see optimism and good
will in their entertainment, too. Maybe we're getting tired of our
snarky anti-heroes. Maybe, as a nation, we want to see the best of
human nature celebrated rather mocked.

Or maybe I'm just overly hopeful.

From a letter in today's New York Times...
In his State of the Union address, President Bush warned
that “America must not fail in Iraq.”

Let’s see if I have this rigHT: Against the advice of many of its
passengers, a man drives a car recklessly into a ditch. It gets
stuck. At first he denies that it’s stuck at all. Then when it’s
impossible to avoid the truth, he guns the gas, spins the wheels and
sinks the car deeper in the mud, all the while yelling hysterically
about how terrible it will be for everyone if they can’t get out. --
William Horwitz

Not ripped from the headlines...
I love reading the Metro/NY section of the Times. One can
find the most fascinating little stories.

For example: Subway Rider Dies on Tracks
A guy was riding between cars (peeing, actually), and fell when the
train made a sharp turn. Remind me-- are there signs on the doors
between cars suggesting that being between them while the train is
moving might not be such a good idea? In fact, isn't there some sort
of law about that? I don't want to mock the deceased, but for pity's
sake, people. Some rules were not made to be broken.

And even better: Shortcut Through Airport Screening
The government can monitor our phone calls and private mail without
warning all in the name of safety and security... But if you plunk
down $100 per year, the airlines will assume that you're not a
terrorist and will let you walk right on through to the
plane. 'Cause, clearly, all terrorists come from impoverished third-
world nations and have no funding, and couldn't possibly afford to
pay so much to bypass security.
Gosh, I feel so much safer now.

My new addiction...
The blueberry cheesecake martini at the New World Stages lounge is the Best. Drink. Ever.

That is all.

Tragic and amusing...
(...like so many other things in my life...)

My friend Kevin went home to Michigan for Christmas, and enlisted me
to check in on his four-month-old kittens once a day. Harley and Anya
are adorable and very affectionate, and it was a pleasure to visit
every day and play with them (especially when they climbed onto my
lap and purred like motorbikes. Damn, they're loud!).

Unfortunately, being alone so much left the kitties a bit restless,
and in a fit of what I can only assume was boredom they tore off the
rubber lining underneath the front door. As I came up the stairs to
Kevin's apartment, I could see two pairs of little eyes looking out
at me from under the door. Having seen videos of cats squeezing
through tight spaces, that left me a bit anxious, but there wasn't
much I could do about it.

Upon leaving the apartment on Wednesday night, dragging all the
leftover Christmas bags my folks had brought up when I met them for
dinner earlier that evening, I locked the front door and looked down.
A tiny paw was reaching under the door and feeling around for my
shoe. I bent down to pet the paw, and heard some clicking like a lock
turning. I checked the door, and no, they hadn't undone the lock
(tho' I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually figured out how to
do so), so I gathered up my bags and schlepped down the stairs. As I
walked, I thought I heard a lock turning over a few more times, but
didn't think much of it, assuming someone was locking up for the
night and just checking their door.

Last night, Kevin came home and called me, rather worried, wanting to
know when I had left his apartment the night before.
"Around 9:30 or so," I said.
"My next-door-neighbour said that he saw a homeless person outside my
door at 9 or so, bending down and trying to jimmy open the door. He
said he turned the lock a few times, trying to scare the bum away,
and the person eventually wandered off."
I cracked up, and told him about Anya reaching under the door, and
the paw-petting, and all my Christmas bags that I had been
schlepping, and the mysterious sound of a lock turning. He was very
relieved. "Oh, I'm so glad to know that you're the homeless
person!"
"Thanks," I said, so flattered to know that I'd been mistaken for a
bum.
"Well, what if it had been real? What if there really was some
homeless person trying to break into my apartment while you were
there by yourself? You could have been homeless-person-stew! At least
my neighbours are looking out for me... and you!"
"Your neighbours think I'm a bum," I reminded him, but he was too
relieved that there hadn't actually been an attempted break-in to
care. He said he'd clear it up with his neighbours, and there
wouldn't be problems again.

So, all is well, except that I look homeless. Fantastic. Why does no
one tell me these things before people are about to sic the
cops on me?

*grumble*