Monday, November 12, 2018
An article today states that "choices we make during the first hour or so of our morning often determine what the rest of the day will look like."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/
An article today states that "choices we make during the first hour or so of our morning often determine what the rest of the day will look like."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/
I pondered this just before I turned over and went back to sleep, the prerogative of the retired.
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I wish that I knew Louise DeSalvo, a Hunter College literature professor, whose obituary today repeated what she wrote in a memoir: "Life, I have always believed is too short to have even one bad meal."
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
The first Stanley Feingold Lecture Series was held today at CCNY, attended by about 3 dozen of his former students now 70 to 80 years old, along with numerous current students and faculty. Stanley, who died last year, embodied the role of teacher more than anyone that I have ever known, although unlikely to be portrayed by Robin Williams in a film. We kiddingly said that his motto was "The student was always wrong." That, however, only caused us to think harder, focus better and aim for greater clarity in expressing ourselves.
Sam Roberts of The New York Times moderated the discussion between Edward F. Cox, chair of the New York State Republican Party, and Elizabeth Holtzman, former Congresswoman and District Attorney from Brooklyn. The two found little common ground except for vague agreement about getting out the vote and more/better (unfunded) infrastructure. Holtzman had the easier time, with an audience mostly of pinkos on Social Security. Cox chose to defend the resident egomaniac in the White House, a soul-wrenching burden.
. . .
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a novel based on the life of Lali Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, imprisoned at Auschwitz, who tattooed numbers on the arms of newly-arrived prisoners, those who were to be kept alive for at least a few days. That was how he met Gita Furman in 1942, whom he married after they survived WWII.
A novice Australian writer interviewed Sokolov extensively and wrote the novel, which has been translated into 17 languages, sold about a half million copies in the United States, and is #1 on The New York Times paperback fiction list.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/
While the novel seems to parallel the experiences of Sokolov and his wife, some readers have challenged the historical accuracy of the professedly fictional account. The most interesting discrepancy, to my mind, regards the number on Furman's arm, which she eventually had surgically removed. She said that it was 4562; the book states that it was 34902. Historical records establish that only four-digit numbers were applied to women prisoners in 1942. One might say "Why bother?" applied in either direction. Why bother changing the number, if so many other details cleave to reality? Then again, why bother making a fuss about changing the number? Well, that's where I come in. As someone who questioned Arthur Miller backstage about the color of the NYPD uniform shirt worn by a character in his play The Price, I know from attention to detail. See January 25, 2016.
. . .
The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a novel based on the life of Lali Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, imprisoned at Auschwitz, who tattooed numbers on the arms of newly-arrived prisoners, those who were to be kept alive for at least a few days. That was how he met Gita Furman in 1942, whom he married after they survived WWII.
A novice Australian writer interviewed Sokolov extensively and wrote the novel, which has been translated into 17 languages, sold about a half million copies in the United States, and is #1 on The New York Times paperback fiction list.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/
While the novel seems to parallel the experiences of Sokolov and his wife, some readers have challenged the historical accuracy of the professedly fictional account. The most interesting discrepancy, to my mind, regards the number on Furman's arm, which she eventually had surgically removed. She said that it was 4562; the book states that it was 34902. Historical records establish that only four-digit numbers were applied to women prisoners in 1942. One might say "Why bother?" applied in either direction. Why bother changing the number, if so many other details cleave to reality? Then again, why bother making a fuss about changing the number? Well, that's where I come in. As someone who questioned Arthur Miller backstage about the color of the NYPD uniform shirt worn by a character in his play The Price, I know from attention to detail. See January 25, 2016.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
An article about restaurants claims that "Los Angeles is the most exciting food city in America." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/
I'm trying to square that with my memories of the years in exile in Los Angeles, "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." It wasn't all bleak. Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant, 704 South Alvarado Street, served an immortal pastrami sandwich on rye bread. El Cholo, 1121 South Western Avenue, offered Mexican food of superb quality, with margaritas of sufficient potency that led a small group of us to fly to Las Vegas in the middle of the night because it seemed like a good idea.
Lawry's-The Prime Rib Restaurant, 100 North La Cienega Boulevard, made a show of tossing your salad at tableside in a big bowl using its own bottled dressing and then wheeling up a silver-plated trolley holding the beef to be carved to your order. It was kitsch, but it was delicious. As popular as Lawry's was (maybe still is), a different class of people dined at Chasen's, 9039 Beverley Boulevard, closed since 1995. It named booths for many of its famous and loyal customers, including Ronald Reagan, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart and Groucho Marx. The night that I dined there, Mae West came sweeping into the room with her honor guard of muscled young men. How could you expect me to remember what I ate?
On the other hand, back then in the 1970s, Asian food was mostly irrelevant. There was a Chinatown and a Japantown, easily ignored. Koreans were beginning to be a presence in retail, but not restaurants. Vietnamese were still in Vietnam. I recall one (and only one) good Indian joint immediately adjoining UCLA.
As seriously as a Muslim headed to Mecca, therefore, I made frequent pilgrimages to San Francisco to feed body and soul, mostly body. Still, it's possible that today Los Angeles is an exciting food city. I'm just not going to leave New York to find out.
As seriously as a Muslim headed to Mecca, therefore, I made frequent pilgrimages to San Francisco to feed body and soul, mostly body. Still, it's possible that today Los Angeles is an exciting food city. I'm just not going to leave New York to find out.
Friday, November 16, 2018
My dear friend David Lee McMullen takes his own walk down memory lane as a young newspaperman in Florida. http://www.
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I told Stony Brook Steve that I wanted an "experience" at lunch and he agreed to accompany me to Columbus Circle, where two new interesting joints had just opened. Both were the ventures of David Chang, who earned and has maintained two Michelin stars at his first local operation. Both places are on the third floor of the Time-Warner Center, back-to-back. Momofuku Noodle Bar opened yesterday and we thought that the aftermath of the season's first snowstorm would keep people away, for a day or two at least. Not true and, as board-certified grumpy old men, we were unwilling to wait the 30+ minutes proposed to sit down.
Open a few weeks longer, Chang's Bāng Bar specializes in spit-roasted chicken or pork served on Korean flatbread at $5.79, not a misprint compared to the $255 fixed price lunch or dinner at his flagship restaurant on the Lower East Side, steps from the Bowery. (Former New Yorkers will probably imagine a rim shot with that last phrase, "steps from the Bowery." Once, you could have bought half that block for $255.)
In any case, Bāng Bar has no seats; only a couple of nearby standup tables are available to rest your elbows upon. Unfortunately, several people, who, unlike us belonged somewhere else, were occupying the space, leaving us no alternative but to retreat to Bouchon Bakery & Café, down the corridor, an informal establishment of Michelin three-star chef Thomas Keller. Under those circumstances, I can't complain and, inspired by General Douglas MacArthur, "I shall return."
In any case, Bāng Bar has no seats; only a couple of nearby standup tables are available to rest your elbows upon. Unfortunately, several people, who, unlike us belonged somewhere else, were occupying the space, leaving us no alternative but to retreat to Bouchon Bakery & Café, down the corridor, an informal establishment of Michelin three-star chef Thomas Keller. Under those circumstances, I can't complain and, inspired by General Douglas MacArthur, "I shall return."
Alan, thanks for sharing my essay. It was an enjoyable walk down memory lane. Perhaps more will follow. It is what old guys do.
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