Monday, November 20, 2017
Almost
every New Yorker is amazed at how expensive her neighborhood has
become, whether resulting from new construction or upgrades to existing
properties. I was surprised though by a survey of where the hot
neighborhoods are at present.
The
good news is that widely scattered areas of the Holy Land are proving
attractive; the bad news is that there are probably few bargains left.
. . .
I found another real estate story to be particularly interesting, but I can't explain what it all means.
First,
the idea that New York State and Mississippi share the same data point
in any regard is startling. Second, my romantic view of the past had
Bubbe or Zayde (the Survivor) on the same premises as Momma and Poppa
and Tataleh and Bubbeleh (Jewish Dick and Jane),
in contrast to the anomic existence of modern life. Instead, the
movement in recent times has been toward multigenerational households.
"In
1980, 12 percent of the country’s population lived in such households.
By 2014, that number had grown to a record 60.6 million, or 19 percent."
Wednesday, November 22, 2107
America's
Loveliest Nephrologist and the Oakland Heartthrob (OH) arrived late
last night or maybe early this morning (we were sound asleep) for a
Thanksgiving visit, to the delight of both of us. To begin the
celebration, OH and I went to lunch at La Salle Dumpling Room, 25 West
End Avenue, notable not only for its convenience, but the quality of its
food.
We shared most of the items that I have been eating on earlier
visits, cold sesame noodles ($7.95), 6 pan fried
pork dumplings ($8.50), 6 steamed chicken dumplings in spicy sauce
($8.50), and scallion pancake ($7.95). Everything was good, the
scallion pancake exceptionally so, somewhat balancing its high price.
La Salle has a small menu, but what it does, it does quite well.
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Lambert,
Hendricks & Ross released their first recording in 1958, "Sing A
Song of Basie." I was blown away when I heard it, probably on Symphony
Sid's afternoon show on WEVD, 1130 AM on your dial. https://en.wikipedia.org/
The obituary today of Jon Hendricks, the brilliant
lyricist who found the words to fit the music, brought
back memories of that early excitement, which continued into other
recordings of Basie's music, as well as Duke Ellington's and others.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/
Hendricks's
passing reminds me of another loss. His work, along with that of
hundreds of other musicians, is contained on long playing record albums,
stuck in the bottom of our hall closet. They sit there unused, because
I discarded my last turntable some years ago, whether as a result of a
move or a paint job or mechanical failure, I can't even remember. For
years, the acquisition of compact discs became the focus of my music
collecting and enjoyment. Sometimes, I bought CDs that duplicated LPs
that I owned. But, not everything in one medium was available in the
other and, at other times, I felt that one version was enough.
I never bought Lambert, Hendricks & Ross on compact discs. Harry Poloner made the helpful suggestion that contemporary music streaming services might fill the gap, but he acknowledged that they usually substitute convenience for sound quality, so, with Symphony Sid gone even longer than my turntable, I'll try to keep their music alive in my head.
Friday, November 24, 2017
Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul D. Ryan, said in a recent speech that “fixing
the business side of our tax code is really all about helping families
and workers.” He also claimed that filling a trench is all about helping the shovels.
No
doubt Ryan's concern for the have-less is based on his concern that the
gap with the have-more is reaching an unconscionable level. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/upshot/income-inequality-united-states.html
Do you think the
fact that the pattern of our income growth since 1980 most resembles
Russia's haunts this son of the Midwest and impels his desire
for tax reform?
. . .
Football Scoreboard
Columbia University 8-2
New York Jets 4-6
New York Giants 2-9
With
the New York Giants making a faint reappearance Sunday, beating Kansas
City 12-9, only to lose to Washington last night, 20-10, and the Ivy League football season over, we are closing down
the football scoreboard until next year.
. . .
. . .
. . .
The New York Times reports that "the most extremist voices in the country seem to be moving more into the mainstream," but no, it was only referring to Pakistan.
