I Do

Monday, July 30, 2018

The New York Times calls it the Styles section, but to me it will always be the society pages.  While it is now full of frou-frou that proper society would be disdainful of, it contains the vital building blocks of society and Society, wedding announcements.  Yesterday was particularly fruitful, 26 weddings reported.  Somewhat atypically these days, none were same sex, although one wedding joined  a trans man to a trans woman.

What caught my attention was how each couple met, so I counted:

Dating app/on-line           9

At work                               2

On a trip/vacation             2

College/school                    5

Introduction by friends     2

Party                                     4

Grew up together               1

Apartment mates                1

Think of it, without computers, 18 of 52 people would be walking around looking for love. 
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In reviewing what I wrote last week about my high school yearbook and homeroom, America's Favorite Epidemiologist said that the homerooms at Teaneck High School were organized alphabetically.  Since her last name began with a P, she sat surrounded by other Ps.  That strikes me as pretty dull.

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

To the relief of many of you, I will skip discussing the admissions policy of Stuyvesant High School and address a less controversial topic -- peace in the Middle East.  The New York Times today has an op-ed piece on the codification of second class citizenship for Israeli Arabs, written by an Israeli Arab.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/opinion/israel-nationality-law-palestinian-citizens.html

I agreed with it on the whole, but one phrase, I thought, illustrated a significant flaw in the Arab mindset: "Israel was founded on the ruins of the Palestinian people in 1948."  This is consistent with Arabs labeling Israel's founding and the consequential displacement of approximately 700,000 Arabs as Al Nakba, the catastrophe. 

Both ideas attempt to portray the Palestinians as passive victims, not unlike the Jewish victims of the Holocaust.  This is both facile and ahistoric.  Arab governments and populations made choices before and after 1948, many often bad choices.  Arab villages emptied, voluntarily and involuntarily as the armies of 7 Arab nations attempted to destroy the new Jewish state.  All of these regimes refused to accept the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, adopted on November 29, 1947, which called for the establishment of two states.  A few transnational Arab forces joined in as well.  One, the Arab Liberation Army, had an emblem that must have stimulated Zionist recruitment.

So, now, the Israeli government is acting brutishly toward its Arab citizens (along with many of its Jewish citizens attempting to live in the 21st century).  But, their honorable quest for justice should not be based on fake history.  I think that the Arabs generally do better with defeat than they might have done with victory.
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The Boyz Club gathered at 21 Shanghai House, 21 Division Street, a joint with food inside that tastes much better than the appearance of the place outside.  In fact, the food was uniformly very good and inexpensive.  We had soup buns (8 for $5.95), scallion pancake ($3.25), vegetable dumplings (6 for $5.25), orange beef ($14.50), chicken chow fun ($8.95), beef chow fun ($8.95) and pork fried rice ($5.25).  Portion size for each dish was ample for the 5 of us.  Definitely a hit.

 

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

In the company of Stony Brook Steve, I reversed the flow of finding new Chinese restaurants.  After eating at Dun Huang, 300 East 12th Street, last week, we went to its uptown version at Dun Huang Upper West, 1268 Amsterdam Avenue.  Physically, it couldn't be more different.  Instead of the predominantly glass and mirror surfaces in the wide downtown space, uptown was narrow, dark and woody.  As you enter, only three tables are visible, two rectangular six tops and one round four top.  Further back, the joint jogs right, holding another eight tables of varying size. 
 

The uptown menu also differs, not conceptually, but in detail.  Most dishes were spicy, mildly to heavily.  We ordered Dunhuang* Cold Noodles with chili oil, chicken, bean sprouts and scallion ($9.95); Crispy Fish Roll, 4 very thin, deep-fried, fish-filled tubes ($4.95); Jerked Mutton, marinated with cumin, chili and sugar, dried to almost leathery consistency ($8.95).  To cool our palates, we ended with Dunhuang Orange Noodles with fermented orange flavor sauce ($10.95).  In all, it was food that we respected more than enjoyed. 

*Dun Huang is apparently a two-word noun and a one word adjective.

. . .

The most important food news of the week is the expansion of Ample Hills Creamery at 421 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, increasing their capacity for superior ice cream many times over.  If they can maintain their quality control, ice cream might take the place in our lives left by the absence of truth.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

I saw the coming attractions today for the October release of a movie starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born.  That should be a familiar title to anyone reading this slag, regardless of age.  It is the fourth film version, under the same name, of the story of the male show biz pro guiding the young female performer until her career eclipses his.  In 1937, Janet Gaynor and Frederic March were the first pair.  Then came Judy Garland and James Mason in 1954.  They were followed by Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson in 1976. 

Following the progression 1937, 1954, 1976, 2018, I'm going to ask grandson Boaz to keep his eye out for version 5 around 2045, because 27 years is the average interval.  Is there a movie maven out there who knows of another film that was repeated as many or more times?  

Friday, August 3, 2108
Reagan, we hardly knew ye.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/03/melania-trump-policy-director-leaves-white-house-761886

As to the news about Paul Ryan, speaking for the Reconstructionist Jews of America, I apologize.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/01/a-surprise-in-paul-d-ryans-ancestry-hes-slightly-jewish/?utm_term=.d621786d3200