Monday, June 18, 2108
Based on existing research, Professor Ryan Murphy of Southern Methodist University writes that "occupations that were [found to be] most disproportionately psychopathic were CEO, lawyer, media, salesperson, surgeon, journalist, police officer, clergyperson, chef, and civil servant. Those that were least psychopathic were care aide, nurse, therapist, craftsperson, beautician/stylist, charity worker, teacher, creative artist, doctor, and accountant."
As most of you know, yesterday was America's Favorite Epidemiologist's birthday, but it was also Father's Day. So, we decided to celebrate seriatim, first having brunch with some lovely people, fathers and mothers, on Sunday. Then, tonight, we went high hat, having dinner at Jean-Georges Restaurant, 1 Central Park West, resulting in a near perfect experience. This was not Chinatown or Curry Hill, no hand held food, eating standing up or coupons. It is one of five restaurants given 4 stars by the New York Times, one of 11 local restaurants with 2 Michelin stars, having lost that rare, precious third star this year.
The room is bright, open with an understated decor, using white and gray as the basic color scheme. The 20 tables were amply sized, decently spaced. We came early at 6 P.M., but soon all the tables were occupied. Service was excellent; careful attention was paid to your water glass and bread plate.
Jean-Georges offers only three menus at dinner. The Jean-Georges Menu ($238) has 7 set courses, featuring signature dishes. The Spring Menu ($248) also has 7 set courses, featuring seasonal produce. We went for the Prix Fixe Menu (a mere $148), allowing a couple of dozen choices for 4 courses. Some dishes came at a supplement, as did several caviar dishes.
I had Yellowfin Tuna Ribbons, Avocado, Radish and Ginger Emulsion, a brilliant creation, the strands of fish lightly coated in a slightly sweet sauce. I followed that with Caramelized Foie Gras, Black Olive Seasoning*, Lychee and Brioche. Then I had lamb two different ways, Roasted Lamb Loin and Crackling Riblettes, Smoked Chili Glaze*, and Broccoli di Cicco ("an heirloom, old-fashioned kind of broccoli" according to the Internet).
The starred items dropped my appraisal to near perfect. Neither was necessary to the well-conceived, flawlessly-executed dish it accompanied. And, contrary to what I imagine the way that you appeal to old, rich folks, each had a sharp, pungent taste. Maybe if I were not a charter member of the clean plate club, I would have taken a pinch of each seasoning and left it aside. Instead, I made all gone with slightly disappointing results.
Jean-Georges recovered almost entirely with dessert, a choice centered on a flavor. Naturally, I chose chocolate and got it five different ways, one better than the other, a Möbius strip of deliciousness.
Demonstrating the domestic harmony in our household, my young bride ordered a completely different meal. She had Mushroom Salad with Wild Greens and Herbal Pine Dressing, White Asparagus with Lemon Crumbs and Herb Vinaigrette, and Black Sea Bass Crusted with Nuts and Seeds, Sweet and Sour Jus. The theme for her dessert was cherry.
Befitting such an elegant joint, four different amuse-bouches came during dinner and handmade chocolates, nougats, champagne-flavored gummy bears and hand cut marshmallows came with the check. A final touch was the chocolate confection presented to madame for her birthday as we left, avoiding any giddiness in the dining room.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Just 36 hour ago, I was deep in sybaritic pleasure. Now, I am about to have my kishkes examined from the top down by doctor/lawyer/rabbi Morris Traube, a man for all seasons. To afford him the best view, I have had nothing to eat or drink for more than 12 hours. That, in itself, could make a person sick.
. . .
In an address at Yale's recent graduation, Hillary Clinton urged the audience "[t]o try to see the world through the eyes of people very different from ourselves and to return to rational debate, to find a way to disagree without being disagreeable, to try to recapture a sense of community and common humanity.” Sorry, but my sense of community and common humanity does not extend to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, quoting scripture to justify kidnapping refugee children; Fox News host Laura Ingraham, describing holding facilities for refugee children as "summer camps"; commentator Ann Coulter, identifying refugee children as "child actors"; and former Trump campaign chairman Corey Lewandowski, mocking a girl refugee with Down syndrome being taken from her mother.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Yesterday's medical procedure went swimmingly. All my pieces seem to be working right.
Friday, June 22, 2018
As announced last week, we made our pilgrimage today to Ben's Best Kosher Delicatessen, 96-40 Queens Boulevard, to mark its close of business on June 30th, after 73 years in operation. It seemed like we had more people than attended the inauguration on January 20, 2017. One cause of Ben's Best's challenge to remaining in business was evident as soon as we got off the Long Island Expressway. Countless parking spaces on the Queens Boulevard service road have been lost to a bike lane, parking spaces closest to Ben's Best. While the Rego Park-63rd Drive stop on the M & R trains is just a few feet away, it is on a somewhat isolated spur. Even if Queens Boulevard was flooded with bike riders (I saw none), I doubt that many would want to test the elasticity of their Spandex by filling up with cold cuts and knishes
Pastrami sandwiches predominated among us, but I combined mine with corned beef. Dr. Brown's flowed freely. Appropriately, expressions of satisfaction in Yiddish emerged frequently.
. . .
Finally, try this on for size.
https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/friday-june-22nd-melania-jacket
Based on existing research, Professor Ryan Murphy of Southern Methodist University writes that "occupations that were [found to be] most disproportionately psychopathic were CEO, lawyer, media, salesperson, surgeon, journalist, police officer, clergyperson, chef, and civil servant. Those that were least psychopathic were care aide, nurse, therapist, craftsperson, beautician/stylist, charity worker, teacher, creative artist, doctor, and accountant."
https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=869093085017081090005006030030024124105043091018012063007122122085024116088020082119042030001020040120035092021070066115087004043061013052034031127076016006124121111009082063126101122085097094022105122092003111004010121109093112127096097095075097081087&EXT=pdf
The geography of psychopathology is also quite interesting. "The top five observations in psychopathy are the District of Columbia, Connecticut, California, New Jersey, and a tie of New York and Wyoming for fifth. The states that are least psychopathic are West Virginia, Vermont, Tennessee, North Carolina, and New Mexico." The pattern is pretty consistent, psychopathology accompanies population density. However, the question remains, does someone get wacky living in a crowded space or does someone get wacky living in the middle of nowhere and then goes looking for company?
The geography of psychopathology is also quite interesting. "The top five observations in psychopathy are the District of Columbia, Connecticut, California, New Jersey, and a tie of New York and Wyoming for fifth. The states that are least psychopathic are West Virginia, Vermont, Tennessee, North Carolina, and New Mexico." The pattern is pretty consistent, psychopathology accompanies population density. However, the question remains, does someone get wacky living in a crowded space or does someone get wacky living in the middle of nowhere and then goes looking for company?
. . .
As most of you know, yesterday was America's Favorite Epidemiologist's birthday, but it was also Father's Day. So, we decided to celebrate seriatim, first having brunch with some lovely people, fathers and mothers, on Sunday. Then, tonight, we went high hat, having dinner at Jean-Georges Restaurant, 1 Central Park West, resulting in a near perfect experience. This was not Chinatown or Curry Hill, no hand held food, eating standing up or coupons. It is one of five restaurants given 4 stars by the New York Times, one of 11 local restaurants with 2 Michelin stars, having lost that rare, precious third star this year.
The room is bright, open with an understated decor, using white and gray as the basic color scheme. The 20 tables were amply sized, decently spaced. We came early at 6 P.M., but soon all the tables were occupied. Service was excellent; careful attention was paid to your water glass and bread plate.
Jean-Georges offers only three menus at dinner. The Jean-Georges Menu ($238) has 7 set courses, featuring signature dishes. The Spring Menu ($248) also has 7 set courses, featuring seasonal produce. We went for the Prix Fixe Menu (a mere $148), allowing a couple of dozen choices for 4 courses. Some dishes came at a supplement, as did several caviar dishes.
I had Yellowfin Tuna Ribbons, Avocado, Radish and Ginger Emulsion, a brilliant creation, the strands of fish lightly coated in a slightly sweet sauce. I followed that with Caramelized Foie Gras, Black Olive Seasoning*, Lychee and Brioche. Then I had lamb two different ways, Roasted Lamb Loin and Crackling Riblettes, Smoked Chili Glaze*, and Broccoli di Cicco ("an heirloom, old-fashioned kind of broccoli" according to the Internet).
The starred items dropped my appraisal to near perfect. Neither was necessary to the well-conceived, flawlessly-executed dish it accompanied. And, contrary to what I imagine the way that you appeal to old, rich folks, each had a sharp, pungent taste. Maybe if I were not a charter member of the clean plate club, I would have taken a pinch of each seasoning and left it aside. Instead, I made all gone with slightly disappointing results.
Jean-Georges recovered almost entirely with dessert, a choice centered on a flavor. Naturally, I chose chocolate and got it five different ways, one better than the other, a Möbius strip of deliciousness.
Demonstrating the domestic harmony in our household, my young bride ordered a completely different meal. She had Mushroom Salad with Wild Greens and Herbal Pine Dressing, White Asparagus with Lemon Crumbs and Herb Vinaigrette, and Black Sea Bass Crusted with Nuts and Seeds, Sweet and Sour Jus. The theme for her dessert was cherry.
Befitting such an elegant joint, four different amuse-bouches came during dinner and handmade chocolates, nougats, champagne-flavored gummy bears and hand cut marshmallows came with the check. A final touch was the chocolate confection presented to madame for her birthday as we left, avoiding any giddiness in the dining room.
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Just 36 hour ago, I was deep in sybaritic pleasure. Now, I am about to have my kishkes examined from the top down by doctor/lawyer/rabbi Morris Traube, a man for all seasons. To afford him the best view, I have had nothing to eat or drink for more than 12 hours. That, in itself, could make a person sick.
. . .
In an address at Yale's recent graduation, Hillary Clinton urged the audience "[t]o try to see the world through the eyes of people very different from ourselves and to return to rational debate, to find a way to disagree without being disagreeable, to try to recapture a sense of community and common humanity.” Sorry, but my sense of community and common humanity does not extend to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, quoting scripture to justify kidnapping refugee children; Fox News host Laura Ingraham, describing holding facilities for refugee children as "summer camps"; commentator Ann Coulter, identifying refugee children as "child actors"; and former Trump campaign chairman Corey Lewandowski, mocking a girl refugee with Down syndrome being taken from her mother.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Yesterday's medical procedure went swimmingly. All my pieces seem to be working right.
Friday, June 22, 2018
As announced last week, we made our pilgrimage today to Ben's Best Kosher Delicatessen, 96-40 Queens Boulevard, to mark its close of business on June 30th, after 73 years in operation. It seemed like we had more people than attended the inauguration on January 20, 2017. One cause of Ben's Best's challenge to remaining in business was evident as soon as we got off the Long Island Expressway. Countless parking spaces on the Queens Boulevard service road have been lost to a bike lane, parking spaces closest to Ben's Best. While the Rego Park-63rd Drive stop on the M & R trains is just a few feet away, it is on a somewhat isolated spur. Even if Queens Boulevard was flooded with bike riders (I saw none), I doubt that many would want to test the elasticity of their Spandex by filling up with cold cuts and knishes
Pastrami sandwiches predominated among us, but I combined mine with corned beef. Dr. Brown's flowed freely. Appropriately, expressions of satisfaction in Yiddish emerged frequently.
. . .
Finally, try this on for size.
https://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/friday-june-22nd-melania-jacket
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