Friday, August 10, 2012

News Notes

Monday, August 6, 2012
The wit and wisdom of Jeff Boss reappeared on the fence at the
construction site on Chambers Street, between Church Street and
Broadway. It is one of his favorite spots for educating the general
public, as you may observe from the tattered undercoating of his old
posters beneath the current display, which I recorded this morning. He
has been familiar to me, and certainly other New York pedestrians, for
at least the last decade.


Jeff’s stock-in-trade is a wonderfully baroque conspiracy theory
concerning 9/11. Here is the gist of his position as copied from his
web site http://www.jeffbossforpresident.org/:
"I Witnessed a family member my sister in law, high up in the NSA
(National Security Agency) planning the 911 attack. She was talking
about helping Ramsi Yousef (responsible for the 93 bombing at the
World Trade Center) call his uncle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed(considered
the mastermind of the 911 attack) from the NSA secret prison in
Alexandria, VA and she was talking about flying planes into buildings."

Jeff’s desire to expose the truth has led him into running for
president, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the New Jersey
governorship and state senate, with only a few moral victories to show
for it. Of course, his lack of electoral success, he claims, resulted
from the active intervention of the NSA in his various election
efforts. "I have a list of over 100,000+ people who have told me that
when I campaign to them and give them my literature, that the NSA
comes to them right afterwards and threatens to kill them and their
families if they speak up." The NSA has taken other extraordinary
steps to rein Jeff in. "I currently have NSA crews on my floor, above
me, and most of the employees of my building, and residents have been
recruited by the NSA to help the NSA cover up them orchestrating the
911 attack." Jeff has accused them of bugging his car and home, and
even seeking his termination with extreme prejudice. "NSA is putting
devices to give off microwave radiation in my car and through the
walls of my apartment to kill me."

On the other hand, according to Jeff, the NSA has a therapeutic side:
"GEORGE W. BUSH WAS DRUNK AND HIGH ON COCAINE IN THE WHITE HOUSE. IN
ORDER TO GET HIM ELECTED THE NSA HAD TO KILL MANY OF HIS DRUG DEALERS,
GIRL FRIENDS, DOCTORS & ALMOST EVERYONE HE WAS IN THE BETTY FORD
CENTER WITH."

If you wonder why this material appears in this blog, usually more
devoted to epicurean matters than espionage, I found this assertion on
another of Jeff’s web sites: "I CURRENTLY HAVE NUMEROUS CHEFS AND
RESTAURANT WORKERS CONFIRMING THE NSA POISONS FOOD IN THERE
RESTAURANT. THE NSA KILLS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS A YEAR BY
POISONING THEIR FOOD." Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Even without a stomach pump handy, I marched right into Amazing 66
Restaurant, 66 Mott Street, which I last visited on February 2, 2010.
I had Amoy mei fun then; today, 2 BBQ Honey Quail @ $3.50 each
(minimum order 2). They were very good, lightly breaded and
deep-fried, but not greasy. However, a small bowl of white rice at
$1.25 is, how we say, a bad deal. The restaurant is quite attractive
by local standards and efficiently operated, so maybe I paid more for
intangibles than rice.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012
The death of Marvin Hamlisch, 68-years old, was announced this
morning. He may have been a singular sensation in winning Oscars,
Emmys, Grammys and a Tony for his musical accomplishments, but my
appreciation of his music was always influenced by our personal
connection. Marvin’s mother worked for a couple in the fur business in
Vienna before WWII. All of them survived the ministrations of some
Western European Christians, and, in the late 1960s, the couple and
their lovely daughter lived in Los Angeles, as did Marvin,
newly-graduated from Queens College and Juilliard, and already working
on film music. His mother, when visiting from New York, would see her
old friends and suggest a liaison (shiddach) between their children,
since Marvin seemed to have more success meeting producers than cuties
back then. As I understood, Marvin and the statuesque young woman had
a date or two, but, in spite of their shared background, just did not
hit it off. In 1971, two years before Marvin won three Oscars on the
same evening (The Sting and The Way We Were), I met and became
enchanted by that very same woman. Since the setting for these events
was Los Angeles, marriage and divorce followed, even while Marvin went
on to date all sorts of lovelies,win many awards and make a lot of
money. Were there moments subsequently when I cursed Marvin’s early
lack of animal magnetism/sex appeal/chemistry?

Fruit note: Bing cherries are everywhere in Chinatown at 2 lbs. for
$3. However, shrewd shopping along Canal Street turns up 3 lbs. for $4
or even 2 lbs. for $2.50. Of course, you must buy the minimum weight
and picking is not allowed. Should you try to sample one cherry, 25
cents will be demanded of you.

Just in from our London desk at 3 PM, New York time – "Rafalca Does
Not Advance in Dressage"
In a quote that is unlikely to be repeated on any Fox News broadcast,
the rider of the show horse 1/3 owned by Mitt Romney’s wife said, "I’m
really happy with her piaffes."

Thursday, August 9, 2012
When I arrived for work this morning, a still photography crew was
already in place at the top of the courthouse steps. They had a
couple of large reflectors to optimize the light, but only a few
people sitting and waiting for the “star” photographer unlike the
hordes swarming around a video shoot of any flavor. In the absence of
any other signs of life, I went upstairs to my desk. At lunchtime, I
walked out the front door of the courthouse to continue my
investigation of the still photo shoot that took all morning to
complete. The crew was closing down and I learned that they had been
occupied with an AT&T ad for a tablet. Since I had been either too
early or too late for the actual posing, I don't know whether
beautiful men, women and/or animals were used, but I'll certainly be
able to recognize the steps when they appear in print.

I went to Noodle Village, 13 Mott Street, and, by coincidence, I
ordered beef chow fun as I had over two years ago (February 16, 2010).
The price increased from $7.95 to $8.75 and the dish was better
prepared this time. The portion was large and the amount of beef was
very generous, but it was still bland tasting. It needed a couple of
hits of soy sauce to give it character. Maybe that's what Mitt needs?

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