Goodnight, Irene

1 Down - Fifth place?

Monday, June 4, 2018

Yesterday, I had a conversation with Dan T., a very smart Millennial, about music good for a campfire, easy and familiar songs.  I suggested The Weavers as a source, with hits such as Wimoweh, Kisses Sweeter Than Wine,  Tzena, Tzena, and On Top of Old Smoky.  I got a quizzical look.  "The Weavers?", he asked.  I wonder how long before The Beatles fall into obscurity?

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I harp.  Certain topics preoccupy me and I am sometimes too lazy to abandon them.  Stuyvesant High School, where I spent 3 years taking up space, is one of those topics.  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom I support, but don't like, has proposed replacing the admission-by-test-only policy for Stuyvesant and other "specialized" secondary schools. 
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/nyregion/de-blasio-segregation-schools.html

As I have pointed out several times, specialized for Stuyvesant has meant few African-American students for most of the 85 years of its selective admissions policy.  Yet, I am unwilling to drop the present meritocratic approach, in spite of the evident inequitable results.  The problem is not with Stuyvesant or the other high achieving secondary schools in the New York City educational system.  They are easy targets, involving a few thousand students, at best.  How about the hundreds of thousands of students confined to segregated, low achieving elementary schools?  I don't suggest that there are easy fixes, but dabbling at the top of the pyramid seems to divert energy and resources from confronting the rotten base.  Parents, teachers, principals, politicians, you, me are all needed to rescue the most critical element in our continuing local experiment in democracy. 
. . .

In what appears to be a successful public-private partnership, Turnstyle Underground Market at the Columbus Circle subway station, continues to thrive.  There has been some turnover, but an interesting variety of food merchants, led by the wonderful Bolivian Llama Party, are doing quite well.  Today, I tried one of the newest shops, Zai Lai Homestyle Taiwanese.  

As is the case with most of its underground neighbors, Zai Lai has a limited menu, 4 rice bowls, a noodle soup and a noodle plate, one bun and two miscellaneous items.  It was these latter two items that I ordered,  Caleb's Braised Beef Roll ($7) and Ex-Girlfriend's Oyster Omelet ($7).  The slivers of beef with Hoisin sauce are wrapped in a scallion pancake, a tasty package.  The omelet, on the other hand, can only be called interesting, not an enthusiastic endorsement, possibly what I might get from an ex-girlfriend.  There were few oysters sitting on a 6" round omelet, sort of. 

Do you know what a feinkuchen is?  Yiddish dictionaries define it as scrambled eggs, but in practice, eggs that have been scrambled before being put in a frying pan, not scrambled as they cook in the frying pan.  This yields a round, flat, somewhat even-surfaced dish.  Here, though, that was only half the story.  The yellow bottom was clearly a feinkuchen, but above it sat a layer of warm, gooey, near transparent aspic covered with "Taiwanese ketchup."  Yes, yucky.  
. . .

Let them eat cake, except if they're gay.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

I went back underground today, to Turnstyle Underground Market at the south end of the very large Columbus Circle subway station.  While Zai Lai gave me little reason to return, other joints beckoned.  I chose Chick'nCone, directly opposite Bolivian Llama Party.  This is apparently a startup venture and it's perfect for tight spaces with walk up customers.  The menu consists of Chick'nCone ($8), Cajun fries ($4) and drinks ($2), that's all.  A combo of all three is $12 and a very good deal, as I will explain momentarily.

But first, what is a Chick'nCone?  A large waffle cone, just as you might have at an ice cream parlor, is made when you order.  It is filled with crispy cubes of deep fried white meat chicken, then dressed with a choice of six sauces, Kick'nRanch, "Slightly spicy, creamy ranch sauce"; Yello BBQ, "Mustard based tangy BBQ"; Traditional BBQ, "Sweet BBQ sauce"; Cinna-Maple, "Classic chicken & waffle maple syrup"; Buffalo Blue, "Wing sauce with a hint of blue cheese"; Peri Peri, "Spicy South American chili sauce".  I chose Yello BBQ, similar to what you would get in eastern North Carolina, where tomatoes are eschewed in barbecue sauce.  The combination was delicious. 

Unsure of the portion size when I ordered, I asked for the fries, too.  Since I was already at $12, I went for the combo, although I had carried my own can of Diet Coke down from the newsstand at the corner of Eighth Avenue and West 57th Street, at the head of the stairs to Turnstyle.  You see, that guy sells soda cans for $1 each, while Turnstyle vendors charge $2 or $3.  However, the drink that Chick'nCone includes is no watered down fountain Coke, but real stuff, including San Pellegrino Arianciata Rossa (sparkling blood orange beverage), my choice, which I carried home after finishing my Diet Coke.
. . .

As of yet, the "Top 100+ North American Cheap Eats Restaurants" does not include Chick'nCone, but give it time.  http://www.opinionatedaboutdining.com/2018/nacheapeats.html

Holy Land entries include Katz's Delicatessen, Ess-A-Bagel, Patsy's Pizzeria, and Xi'an Famous Foods, all reasonable choices.  The list, though, is notoriously weak on Chinese food.  Not only is Wo Hop ignored, there is only one other Chinese restaurant joining Xi'an in the top 100 throughout North America.  It's like we are back in the days of the Chinese Exclusion Act. 

Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Happy Anniversary to D & I.
. . .

And now, the Case of the Mysterious Keynote Speech.  Yesterday, America's Favorite Epidemiologist received an e-mail message from a professional associate, apologizing for missing her keynote speech at the upcoming conference "Autoimmunity in 2018; Where Have We Gotten To?"  Who? What? Where? was the response on this end.  America's Favorite Epidemiologist has no such appearance scheduled and isn't even aware of the event. 

She followed the trail to the conference organizer, who was delighted to hear from the author of "Post-September 11, 2001, Incidence of Systemic Autoimmune Diseases in World Trade Center-Exposed Firefighters and Emergency Medical Service Workers," and, from its abstract, thought it would be the ideal keynote.  However, while the article appeared in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, January 2016, my young bride never forwarded it or its abstract to the conference organizer or its sponsor, and was completely surprised to see her name and work included on the program. 

Three possibilities come to mind: 1) Someone wanted the work to gain wider exposure; 2) Someone thought that the conference needs padding; 3) Someone planned to kidnap my wife.
. . .

I found some surprising information in this article on college costs.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/06/05/opinion/columnists/what-college-really-costs.html

Some of the country's most selective colleges do not pose a financial challenge to a broad range of American families.  There may be significant cultural and psychological factors associated with the have-nots entering the academic domains of the haves, but money, or the lack thereof, will not stop them.

Thursday, June 7, 2018

I had gone underground for lunch on Monday and Tuesday, but yesterday I reached a new low.  I went to see the Mets play the Orioles, the team with the worst record in baseball.  Sure enough, the Mets lost the game 1-0, obviously forgetting that the game is played with bats as well as balls.
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I had lunch at Bento Sushi, 685 3rd Avenue, a bright, deep space, where a long counter on your left takes up about a third of the floor space.  First comes an array of packaged sushi items.  Then, an area to order hot food, noodle bowls, ramen bowls, rice bowls and bento boxes ranging from $7.99 to $9.99, to be picked up at the end of the counter.  I had a bento box with two pieces of salmon sushi (fresh tasting although made in advance), one gyoza dumpling, salad, and sukiyaki beef over rice ($8.99), a reasonable amount of food for the money.  However, unlike some of its competitors with lines outside their door, Bento was unbusy, which allowed me to look at my phone and read a few pages of The New Yorker before proceeding to help my periodontist refurnish his summer hideaway.

. . .

Bottle