My first thought when I heard Hurricane Sandy was coming was essentially: “Phew, thank god I managed to make it back to New York in time, because I was NOT spending another night in the Detroit airport.”

To clarify, I’d only recently gotten back from an emergency trip to China to see me ailing grandmother, so news of Sandy came really fast and leaving me with little idea of what to expect. My family took very limited precautions, moving a few bits of furniture that wasn’t tied down or heavy enough from the terrace, locking down all the windows, etc. My biggest concern wasn’t even for me or the members of my family with me at the time, it was for my father who was told by the hotel he was working for to come in for work the day before Sandy hit. They would provide him and other members of the staff rooms there, but it would essentially strand him in Upper Manhattan until the storm passed. Profit waits for no man, even during a Hurricane apparently.

As for myself, my apartment complex is several stories high, made out of solid brick and mortar, while resting on a hill in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Willamsburg, resting in land and away from the river. You couldn’t really ask for a more storm, flood, and tree proof facility, so it was all about hunkering down and waiting for Sandy to pass. Besides the howling wind and oncoming rain my family and I ran into almost no inconvenience,  both power, phone lines, water, gas, and the internet were still running for the most part. And in the event that they weren’t we had one of these nifty heavy duty flashlights on hand to help out.

There was one scary moment I do have to admit though, sometime towards the end of the night the box-crate locker on our terrace where we kept most of our heavy tools came open, and I in turn got stuck with the job of braving the storm and shutting closed. The winds had died down by then, so it wasn’t too bad, but I had no inclination to linger and bolted back inside with extra hop in my step when the job was done. Afterwards, it was just tracking the storm, and then going to bed with the howling winds for a lullaby. Not the most exciting time in life, but there was some anxiety for some of my relatives scattered across the city, in Long Island, and New Jersey  Everyone came out alright by the end though, for that I’m extremely grateful, and more then willing to take the boredom of waiting the storm out versus the consequences that could have happened otherwise.

These are the moments during an election when the lines are drawn, where you send a message to everyone, friend and foe, and establish your identity going forward. There’s a lot of symbolic value to showings like the Democratic National Convention. But none of that would probably mean much without the right coverage.

The nytimes coverage of the convention is probably one of the most immersive  experience a person can get without actually being there, possibly even more so. Every form of media outlet in every conceptualized version is used, pictures, video, graphs, and of course the printed word. On top of the professional coverage from their staff and analysts the nytimes adds another spin by including social media trackers, getting at the moment response from just about anyone across the political spectrum.

All of this can be overwhelming, I know. Knowing where to begin is probably the hardest part, especially during a live event where updates are constant and oncoming. But the nytimes layout makes it all quite manageable if you take it one step at a time. Each feature is broken down into different segments on the home page, article updates at the forefront, with the Caucus Blog right next to it, providing on site thoughts and analysis from the writers. Under that is the video and slide-show segment, allowing non-viewers to either watch or catch up on memorable moments during the convention, and from there a social media tracker, providing feedback from others through twitter by following the trend tags/topics.

It’s really the total package, getting expert insight, live-feeds to form your own opinion, and being able to follow the reactions of everyone else. This type of interface will be the future model for every large-scale event coverage going forward, so long as they keep it organized, the vast quantity of choices to receive your news will be less daunting and more of a great opportunity for every viewer.

I rarely ever eat much during breakfast most days. Something quick, something light, just something to give me a little bit of energy to shake off the grogginess of the morning and get me going. Usually that’s a sweet bun, a yogurt, or a piece of fruit like a banana.

But sometimes, there are just some mornings where I’ve got this deep, gnawing pit in my stomach, that demands to be filled. It’s mornings like those when I head over to the cafeteria and order myself one of these:

*Image from beerorkid.com

Hash Browns, the guilty pleasure of my morning life and probably my favorite breakfast food of them all. Yes,yes I know what you’re going to say “Aleck, it’s a bunch of cut up potato pieces fried together!” Yes it’s probably dipped into a ton of oil. Yes, it’s probably nothing but carobs  Yes, it will probably give me a heart-attack if eaten in sufficient quantities.

But boy is it good. The rich, crisp outer crust, combined with the savory, fluffy flakes inside just provide this beautiful contrast of textures and rich flavors. Nothing satisfies me more during a hungry morning then to have that warm, melting sensation wash right through my body.

Some people see fried grease shaped into a cube, I see my salvation for the day.

Just how high can a man reach before he exceeds his grasp?

Science fiction is one of those genre’s that is much admired, but very little understood. Some of the most iconic movies have been science fiction; Star Wars, Terminator, Blade Runner, etc., that spawned dedicated following still in existence today.  It captures the imagination and, unlike fantasy, has the added advantage of having that tantalizing possibility of being real at some point in time. And the subject is versatile, able to blend in with several other different genres like romance, comedy, action, horror, or mystery.

But for all those pluses, it’s still a very niche subject that rarely breaks into mainstream popularity. The one turn off for the subject among casual viewers that I’ve seen is also the one aspect that I absolutely love the most, that it takes a lot of effort to comprehend and understand. It challenges viewers by breaking down their original conceptions of what’s possible, but that’s the beauty of science fiction in my mind. I consider myself an open-minded person    for the most part, and in this case nothing impresses me more then when creators push the boundaries of ones imagination and exploring new ideas I hadn’t even dreamed about before. It’s the immersive experience of it all that gives me my money’s worth, and by the end of it I feel this deep sense of satisfaction that all the effort I put into it paid off. If I could compare it to anything it would be like doing well with a particular subject in a classroom, it takes a lot of work, but only then can you truly appreciate it by the end. Maybe that’s not worth it to some people, but for me they just don’t know what they’re missing out on.

I was luckier then a lot of other people when Hurricane Sandy finally hit. My neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn was a respectable distance inland and rested on top of a hill, giving it the elevated ground needed to avoid any real danger of flooding. By and large all the storm really did to me was ensure I was locked up at home for two days, with all the amenities like water, heat, electricity, and internet (though very spotty at times) still readily available. But as unaffected as I was by Sandy itself, the scars it left behind are all too real for me. 

Despite the wind strength, my neighborhood was fortunate in avoiding the hazards of fallen trees. But even then it’s hard not to notice the contrast in the landscape Sandy created whenever I walk down the block and see branches stripped clean of their bark or a sign turned on completely on its head.

Walking down a bit further and past the local supermarket and you can see an even more telling example as work crews work daily to repair a missing banister that was torn right off.

Still, all these things are minor inconveniences at worse, it’s only walking down even further that you can see where the real impact is being felt.

Unlike the image above my local BP gas station was still completely empty of patrons because it’s still completely empty of actual gas, even several weeks after Sandy’s passing. I can only be thankful that, despite the long delays and only partial restoration at the time, this city has an extensive subway system that I can get by on, otherwise I’d have be like some of the poor suckers I’ve seen who have to carry their own fuel canisters like the ones above to fill up their cars and hope its barely enough to get them wherever they need to go.

Having several internships with government offices keep me in tune of just how much bigger these problems are in other parts of the city though, especially in the areas of lower Manhattan and Staten Island. I don’t even want to get into the stories I still hear outside of the city, where my aunt’s family on Long Island are still without power and heat in the middle of winter!

And so I’ve been doing what I can to help victims that have had it much harder then myself, which I am extremely thankful for. Just this week after Thanksgiving, I was inviting community board leaders to attend and contribute to a food drive, coordinating and setting up the venue in the American Museum of Natural History, and moving an entire truckload of cartons of dehydrated milk and water to be shipped off to the NYC Food Bank. Even now though, while it helps to know I’ve done something to help alleviate the difficulties of others in this trying time, its still disheartening to know it probably isn’t enough, and likely won’t be for some time yet. Life may go on, but the scars still linger.

Bright, stylish, comforting, contentment… but also disconnect. These are the words that come to mind as I reflect back on my visit to one Chote Nawab, an Indian Restaurant nestled on the corner of 28th and Lexington.

*Image by roshan b. at yelp.com

As soon as I walk through the doors I was struck by the layout of the place. Bold colors line the outer walls, while rustic murals painted the rest. Ornate modern hangers line them and the industrial piped ceiling up top. Its such a festive and exciting combination and contrast, tied together by the wood trimmed furniture which adds a homey feeling to the space.

Needless to say I got swept up in the atmosphere almost immediately, and my enthusiasm did not diminish thanks to the impeccable service and attention I received. My waters were refilled at a constantly, never reaching the bottom of the glass. Orders and dishes were taken and delivered swiftly, all with a cordial smile and polite questions asking me if I needed anything else. So to all my readers make sure your tip is astounding, because with service like that your waiter deserves nothing less.

*Image from madrasrecipe.com

Yet for all the glowing praise I’m giving Chote Nawab right now, it pains me more then anything to say that it fell short of the most important aspect of any restaurant,  the food. Scanning the menu my enthusiasm was not diminished as I saw categories for all types of different entree, from seafood to vegetables, chicken, lamb, beef, the list went on. I chose the Lamb Madras lunch special, coming in at only $11 at a steal. A mix of Lamb curry, and coconut I was looking for a flavorful blend of sweet and spicy. Yet upon taking a bite out of my dish I soon realized I had only received twice the amount of the latter and none of the former, the coconut flavor having been almost completely killed off by the heat . Mixed with an unlimited refill of rice, a container bean dip, and Naan bread on the side the meal itself was quite filling, but it just lacked the same spark of sophisticated spark as the decor, relying on the staple of Indian spices like American dishes do with meat and potatoes, simple but uninspired.

While I believe anyone  who visits Chote Nawab can appreciate the simplistic novelty of its cuisine, it still feels as though the restaurant has a ways to go before they can reach that next new and invigorating modern mix of flavors that its physical design at least, aspires to.

*Photo from starbustmagazine.com

Is it weird to feel both somber and jovial at the same time? To laugh and smile while the world literally comes apart around you, while on the inside all you really want to do is cry? That’s the type of feeling watching Beasts of the Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zetilin, both encourages and evokes in its audience such as myself. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic setting where much of the world is being swamped by rising sea levels as the polar ice-caps melt Beasts of the Southern Wild focuses in on the story of six-year old girl named Hush Puppy and her life in a bayou community known as Bathtub. In between dealing with a sinking home and an ailing father, the melting ice-caps have also released prehistoric animals known as aurochs, which are incidentally migrating straight towards Bathtub.

It’s a bit more intimate then the last film I watched about global warming, which was Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. Rather then discuss broad implications and general concepts, like Al Gore did, Beasts of the Southern Wild creates a microcosm for its viewers to absorb, watching the personal life of Hushpuppy play out in probably the worst case scenario of environmental disasters. And for the most part we see her and her companions confront said disasters with the kind of festivity that would make the orchestra in Titanic jealous. There is little or no somber remorse amongst the community of Bathtub, who live their lives like each day was there last… which it may in fact possibly be. But the good times do not in fact keep on rolling. Even the bubble of Bathtub, for all its lackadaisical resilience is not in fact anymore secure then the bubble of one’s childhood, which Hushpuppy must quickly grow out of in this harsh world.

By the end of the film audiences will be left with a simple but sobering message. No matter how much we run from out problems, whether they are our own individual tragedies or looming environmental disaster, one must have the fortitude and resolve to face them. Unless we can accept and embrace that message, we can never truly move forward. It’s not a new message, but Beasts of the Southern Wild carries it better through its ability to take complex issues and packaging them into an intimate and personal story. And the message resonates all the more because of it.

As a Chinese American one of the many privileges I’ve had to enjoy from both cultures is their food. I can get into a bowl of noodles just as easily as I can churn through a helping of mash potatoes any day. But it pains me to know that the bridge between the two cultures themselves isn’t nearly so complete. Because when Americans typically think about Chinese food they’re trapped in the box of the image above.

Having had real home-made and formal dining Chinese food the image above does not qualify in any way beyond appearance. It’s a box of salt, sauce, and oil turned out of a fryer is what it basically is. Chinese takeout gives real Chinese food a bad name, allowing Americans to forget about the authentic version they could have if they took the time to look. A well-seasoned, evenly balanced, and thought out meal with a variety of different textures and flavors that can sing more then one note and can actually be good for you.

Photo taken from theseoldcolors.com

To me, dystopian science fiction movies must be the Film God’s version of the Babel Tower, a way of smacking down an audience for having the gall to possess an imagination. Something about the lost promise of technology and the future just seems to resonate with the bleak atmosphere and hopelessness of the dystopian theme apparently. While I can appreciate the irony, there are some instances where I find it grating in the extreme, especially in post-apocalyptic versions where science often revert backwards. The reason is they take away the one thing I have always loved about the science fiction genre, the ability to push the boundaries on what we think is possible.  Yet I’m happy to say there is reason to rejoice in the form of the short film, Portal: No Escape by Dan Trachtenberg.

Portal: No Escape, based on the videogame with the same title by Valve Software, begins with our protagonist waking up in a cell with absolutely no idea where she is. Time passes as she acclimates herself to confinement, probing the walls every so often in search of a way out. Finally, she discovers a very interesting device that, with the right amount of creativity, may hold the key to her prison, and perhaps to everything else as well!

What I love about Portal: No Escape is the fact that it’s an example of what you can do when you put the science back in dystopian science fiction. The device, the technological possibilities it offers, is a central asset to the story. The doors it can open up, literally in some instances, challenge both the protagonist and the audience to think laterally in order to make the best use of it, pushing ones preconceived notions while still making logical sense.

Photo taken from telegraph.co.uk

I compare this to some of the latest futuristic dystopian films out there like the Hunger Games, which I did enjoy, but left me a more then a little tenuous on the necessity of science fiction elements being there at all. Whereas Portal is dependent on its technology to move the story forward, Hunger Games is all about tapping into something primitive and decadent, often having to make do with what little the characters have on hand in order to survive. I could easily picture  Katniss and the other tributes story in a period piece doing a show in the Colosseum of Rome or some surreal drama taking place on a television show set in the present day, like a less funny and more bloody version of Jim Carrey’s The Truman Show. 

If you’re looking for a thrilling experience that makes you do a different take on how you’re looking at things and opens up new possibilities for a seasoned genre then I highly recommend checking out Portal: No Escape. Oh, and The game’s not too bad either.

watch?v=4drucg1A6Xk