President Pinocchio

Monday, September 23, 2019

It's been more than 20 years since I last went to Serendipity 3, 225 East 60th Street, which is about to celebrate its 65th anniversary.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/t-magazine/serendipity-3-restaurant.html

This long absence is notable, because, when I returned to the Holy Land in 1980 from exile on the Left Coast, I ate at Serendipity 3 almost every Sunday for months.  And, I ordered the same thing -- a hamburger and frozen hot chocolate.  At that time, at three dollars and change, its hamburger was one of the most expensive around, but worth it to my mind.  I think that they lightly covered the patty with cracker crumbs before broiling, yielding a crunchy exterior.  The frozen hot chocolate was what Starbucks' frappuccino aspires to.  I never tired of the meal.

However, as I started living a normal life, I rarely returned alone, but continued to go to Serendipity with friends and that's what I want to tell you about.  One night, after work, I went with Cindy, Susan and Sylvia (the Sibilants?).  Standing on line, we couldn't help but stare at Andy Warhol, seated at a center table.  As I was telling the host/seater/greeter that we were the Nächst party, pronounced "next," Sylvester Stallone and entourage entered right behind us.  Under those circumstances, I pretty much represented the mean of masculinity.   

. . .

Not all newspaper headlines these days are depressing.  According to the business section: "Engineers Sprint Ahead, but Don't Underestimate the Poets"

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/20/business/liberal-arts-stem-salaries.html

Relying on the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) majors initially draw much higher pay than liberal arts types.  However, the gap is closed over time as innovations in STEM fields leave many workers behind, while the "soft" skills developed (we pray) in liberal arts majors may help them rise to leadership and management positions.  It doesn't hurt the numbers, also, to go to law school and work for a Wall Street firm, not exactly what you anticipated when you registered at Yale for English 126 to study "the English literary tradition through close reading of select poems from the eighteenth century through the present."   

. . .

Allow me to introduce you to Alain Eigermann, proprietor-chef of Alain's Petit Bistro, 88 Main Street, Nyack.  We encountered him and his establishment yesterday, when the Upper West Side's Power Couple took a little jaunt out of town, on the gorgeous day that was the last day of Summer.  It was lunch time and the place seemed very French and inviting.  The deep carmine walls were covered with French posters, maps and Parisian street signs.  Proud roosters also appeared in various forms.  Edith Piaf sang.

Alain is Alsatian and started working in kitchens when he was 14 years old.  He progressed through increasingly prominent restaurants in France and then New York, eventually opening several of his own.  This bistro seems to an exercise in tranquility, after some of the ventures that he described to us.

The lunch menu was simple.  I had creamy scrambled eggs with chives, accompanied by a green salad and frites.  My young bride had the best looking salade Niçoise that I have ever seen, many thick slices of grilled tuna sitting amid fresh greens, hard-boiled eggs, olives and haricots verts (French green beans).  Ooh-la-la.. . .

This puzzle defeated me: What comes next?

D1  N1  O1  S1  A2  M2  F1

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

"But if the government takes an ax to the political convention and there are no rules, then there is a complete void in which the executive can act however it likes.”  Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. 

Wednesday,  September 25, 2019

Gentleman Jerry accompanied me to Pho Vietnamese Sandwich Shop, 141 West 72nd Street, newly opened, replacing an undistinguished Japanese restaurant.  The place was very busy; almost all seats at its 10 two-tops, 3 booths and 2 tall tables were occupied.   The two long walls were white-painted brick, one side hung with indigenous objects, large green leaves painted on the other.

The name is misleading.  It's a full-scale Vietnamese restaurant; banh mi, the national sandwich, makes up only a small part of the menu.  More choices are offered of pho, the classic noodle soup, and bun, vermicelli/mei fun/angel hair, covered with stuff, beef, shrimp, pork, chicken.  Prices are reasonable, the same for lunch and dinner.  Everything in the teens except for two items at $20.

I had a beef bulgogi sandwich ($12), thin slices of beef dressed with kimchi, pickled shredded carrots, cucumber, cilantro and a fried egg ($1.50 extra), on a fresh baguette.  Jerry had bun bo cha gio ($14), fine noodles with grilled sesame beef and a spring roll.  Both of us were very pleased with our choices.

. . .

No, a Ukrainian has never won the Miss Universe pageant, contrary to what the president of the United States (who owned the Miss Universe pageant from 1996 to 2015) said while sitting next to the president of Ukraine today.  This will register as another lie on the Washington Post's presidential veracity scorecard, but I have a suggestion.    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/08/12/president-trump-has-made-false-or-misleading-claims-over-days/

Instead of trying to comprehend that the president of the United States has told 12,019 "false or misleading statements" out loud since taking office (as of August 12, 2019), why not list and enumerate the truths that he tells.  It will take far less time and space to record them.

Wedge Issue

Monday, September 16, 2019

Real estate is a preoccupation for many New Yorkers.  This weekend I read two stories that represented sort of the Yin and Yang of our local market.  "One in Four of New York’s New Luxury Apartments Are Unsold"  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/realestate/new-development-new-york.html
"The monthly median rent for a studio in Manhattan this summer hit an astonishing 11-year high"  https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-studio-in-manhattan-hits-eleven-year-high-2019-9

Rent for a Manhattan studio has risen to $2,700 monthly, while, "[f]rom January to late August, there was a 35 percent drop in the number of contracts signed for new development at or above $4 million."  So, I guess that those folks who couldn't pony up several million for their crib, are cramming into studios until their ship comes in or the tide goes out.
. . .

David Goldfarb is a connoisseur of wine, cheese, Hebrew texts and tomatoes.  In pursuit of the latter, I agreed to drive him to Wallkill View Farm Market, 15 Route 299, New Paltz, New York, 80 miles north of the Holy Land.  David has a longstanding relationship with the owner of the farm stand, who advised him that the San Marzano tomatoes were ready for a new home.  Earlier this summer, David traveled to the farm stand with his daughter to purchase 50 pounds of heritage tomatoes, which he cooked into soup.  Today, he went for San Marzano tomatoes to be made into sauce and I was his enabler.  After we loaded about 20 pounds of these Italianesque tomatoes into my car, we went further up the road to Jenkins-Lueken Orchards, 69 Yankee Folly Road (at route 299), for five pounds of Cortlandt apples.  Both of these operations stood in front of vast acres of fields yielding their produce.
 

I passed on tomatoes and apples, buying only a couple of jars of preserves and a bottle of hard cider.  While I couldn't take it home with me, the best purchase of the day was lunch.  We went to Gadaleto's Seafood Market and Restaurant, 246 Main Street, New Paltz.  Indeed, almost anything on the menu is taken from the refrigerated case in the retail section and cooked to order.

I had fish and chips Southern style, cod with a very crispy, spicy cornmeal crust.  Gadaleto's offers two other versions of fish and chips, traditional flour-coated and British beer-battered.  I was very pleased with my choice, accompanied by a large portion of Cajun-spiced French fries.  The place stands right off exit 18 of the New York State Thruway and is worth a stop on your way to or from Albany or other points north.  Tell them the two old guys from New York sent you.

Tuesday, September 15, 2019

Except if you live in the Boston suburbs, you are probably unaware of Natick, a town bearing the Native American name for "a suburb of Boston."  We visit regularly in order to mingle with our second and third generations.  What I just learned is that the New York Times has enunciated the "NATICK Principle" as part of its crossword puzzle canon.  "If you include a proper noun in your [crossword] grid that you cannot reasonably expect more than 1/4 of the solving public to have heard of, you must cross that noun with reasonably common words and phrases or very common names.”

Wednesday, September 18, 2019
I'm excited.  Miznon is a chain of restaurants that started in Israel in 2011, offering non-Kosher Israeli/Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food.  It is now on four continents, a counter in Manhattan's Chelsea Market its initial American outing.  Recently, it opened Miznon - North at 161 West 72nd Street, a short catapult hurl from Palazzo di Gotthelf.

I went there today and first noted the extensive renovations from its former occupant, Aroma Espresso Bar, another Israeli enterprise.  There is exposed brick on one wall and greenish subway tile opposite.  Left of the entrance, there is a high wall covered with Hebrew graffiti, at least, it looks like Hebrew and it looks like graffiti.  One third of the ground floor is an open kitchen bordered by a counter with 10 stools.  There are additional tables and chairs upstairs and on a back terrace.

In spite of the attractive physical setting, I was initially apprehensive at the sight of raw vegetables sitting on every table.  Admittedly, the sight of raw meat on every table would have been more disconcerting, but I worried about the implication of the raw vegetables.  Fortunately, the kitchen cooks its vegetables and serves hearty proteins as well.

The lunch menu offers 11 main courses, $14-34, Ratatouille Plate to Roasted Branzino, and three stuffed pitas, $13-18, Lavan Cauliflower to Rib Eye Minute Steak.  Included with all these dishes is a choice of appetizer, such as, Beetroot Carpacio (olive oil, salt, grated horseradish and sour cream) and Grilled Leek.  I ordered Rotisserie Broken Chicken ($16), many small pieces of chicken in a subtle sauce (so subtle I couldn't identify it) stuffed into a fresh pita.  I started with Spicy Platter, 4 spicy dips with a chunk of fresh crusty bread to mop with.  Delicious on all accounts. 

Thursday, September 19, 2019

I hit the road again today, without America's Favorite Epidemiologist or even David Goldfarb as company.  I went to the University of Massachusetts - Amherst for the 15th Annual Dean Alfange Jr. Lecture in American Constitutionalism.  Generations of Dean's students established this series upon his retirement, a tribute to an exceptional teacher and a superb human being.  

 

Today's speaker  was Goodwin Liu, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California, discussing "State Courts and School Desegregation: New Perspectives on Judicial Federalism and the Myth of Parity."  Justice Liu clerked for Ruth Bader Ginsburg and taught at the University of California Berkeley School of Law before his appointment to the California Supreme Court.  His theme was that state courts, reaching back even before Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court case that legitimatized "separate but equal," were ruling against segregation and may still have a role protecting civil rights in the future independent of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Justice Liu, the son of Taiwanese immigrants and a Rhodes Scholar, will have a sad footnote in American political history, because, as the Washington Post reported on May 19, 2011, "Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked the nomination of President Obama’s nominee to a high-profile federal appellate court, the first time Republicans have ever united to successfully filibuster a judicial nomination.  On a 52 to 43 vote, law professor Goodwin Liu fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a GOP filibuster to his nomination.  All but one Republican, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, opposed ending debate on Liu’s nomination to the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit." 

Justice Liu's  presentation today demonstrated why the Republicans opposed him.  He was coherent, informed, reasoned and insightful.  Truly an enemy of the state.

. . .

Although public policy and jurisprudence were my primary motivations for the trip today, I have to admit that I welcomed the opportunity to have lunch on the way up at Nardelli's Grinder Shoppe, 540 Plank Road, Waterbury, Connecticut, at exit 25 of I-84, a longtime favorite.  Note that I have never called a hero sandwich a grinder and rarely a sub.  However, nomenclature plays little role in my dining choices.   

Nardelli's offers abundant choices, 19 cold and 21 hot sandwiches, but I knew what I was having before crossing the threshold, a roast beef sandwich ($6.99 for a half, about 4 1/2" long and 3 1/2" wide), with all the fixings, mayonnaise, lettuce, diced marinated vegetables, provolone, and olives, but no tomatoes, as they sometimes give me heartburn.  I also planned to have a bag of dill pickle-flavored potato chips, a staple at Nardelli's, as well as a bottle of their private label diet root beer. 

Delight did not follow, however.  The sandwich tasted dull, the meat tired.  They were out of dill pickle-flavored potato chips.  Only the root beer met my expectations.  Maybe I'll return tomorrow for a meatball parmigiana.

 

Friday, September 20, 2019

It was a gorgeous day and I made good time heading south from Amherst, so I was able to hit Nardelli's just about 12:30 P.M.  I had the meatball parmigiana ($5.99 a half), really a bargain, but not entirely a hit.  The tomato sauce was bland, barely tasting of of the herbs that characterize Italian seasoning, oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil.  The cheese was also underrepresented; no strings of parmesan stretching down your chin as you bit into the sandwich.  

I'm not dismissing Nardelli's, mind you.  I've been pleased with them in the past and there are still 38 more sandwiches for me to try out. 

Cogitant Ergo Sunt

Monday, September 9, 2019
For years, in a futile attempt to deny the aging process, I avoided reading the death notices in the New York Times.  I've progressed beyond that phase of denial and yesterday I recognized the name of R.W.  More than 50 years ago, while teaching in a local junior high school, I taught her daughter and son, the girl in my ninth-grade algebra class and the boy in my (get ready) eighth-grade general science class.  The boy was also in my home room. 

At the time, I got to know some students' families fairly well and stayed friendly with these folks after the school year ended and I moved (was pushed) on.  I recall going to the boy's Bar Mitzvah party held at Cheetah, a very hot discotheque in Manhattan at the time, reflecting the parents' nonconformity, one reason that I found them interesting.  Not that they were refugees from a hippie commune or a Buddhist ashram.  The father owned a successful manufacturing (?) business and the mother herself was a teacher.  In fact, what first attracted me to them was how she praised my classroom shtick, reported back by her children. 

This family became a model for me.  It gave me hope that a middle-class Jewish household could be populated by engaged, articulate parents and teenagers resembling human beings, not what I was accustomed to.  Sometime in the following year, when I had moved to 55 Morton Street in Greenwich Village, previously the home of Wally Cox and his occasional overnight guest Marlon Brando, the kids called me.  They stunned me with the news that their parents were getting divorced. 

All I can remember is that I had to go somewhere, so I got into my VW Beetle parked on the street and partially ripped off my front bumper getting out of the parking space.  I don't think that I even left a note for the car that I vandalized.  "The dream was gone.  Something had been taken from him."  F. Scott Fitzgerald, Winter Dreams, 1926.

I had such a comedown before, although it arose from a work of fiction.  Frederico Fellini's great 1960 movie "La Dolce Vita" had many memorable scenes and themes.  While it was more than unlikely that I would ever cavort in a fountain with Anita Ekberg, I identified strongly with Marcello Mastroianni's friend Steiner, who, in the words of film critic Roger Ebert, "represents all that Marcello envies.  Steiner lives in an apartment filled with art.  He presides over a salon of poets, folk singers, intellectuals.  He has a beautiful wife and two perfect children."  And then, Steiner commits suicide.  That was it.  I only expected existential dread from then on, until I drew some temporary inspiration from the W family years later.  To quote the words of Ralph Cramden, "Pow!  Right in the kisser!"
. . .

My young bride brought to my attention an article in the New York Times about the rebellion within the British Conservative Party's parliamentary wing against the Brexit policy of Boris Johnson.   https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/08/us/politics/boris-johnson-trump.html

This contrasts with the docility of our Republican legislators, deferring to a "president [who] has thoroughly taken over the Republicans, remaking the party of Lincoln in his image and institutionalizing policies that, only a few years ago, would have seemed extreme to them."  As a defrocked political scientist, I found no sound rationale for the opposing scenarios.  In fact, the opposite should be true.  British political parties are centrally controlled, while there are 50 or more organizations making up each of our major political parties.  Parliamentary candidates are often assigned to a constituency by the party leadership, unlike an American office-seeker who typically emerges from the local soil, climbing up a ladder of contested positions. 

There is little room in British politics for the vaunted maverick.  Yet, now we see members of Parliament operating in classic "I'm all right, Jack" fashion, while Republicans in Washington are bowing to the president as deeply and frequently as the most devout Muslim bows to Allah.  Go figure.
. . .

Recently, I've provided data on the cost of home ownership and rentals to assist in determining where you might move to.  Below is information on sprucing up the nest rather than flying away from it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/realestate/top-home-improvement-projects-home-renovation-projects.html

It lists the most popular home improvements and their average cost on a national basis.  Having had some work done on Palazzo di Gotthelf over the years, I can only say that the indicated costs could only be discerned in our rear view mirror. 

. . .

I was in Midtown today and went to Urbanspace Vanderbilt, the busy food hall at East 45th Street & Vanderbilt Avenue.  It was less crowded than on my past visits, when it resembled fraternity row on the eve of the Big Game.  Today, it seemed more like the morning after. 

I chose Mian Kitchen from among the 20 or so vendors.  It features baos, spongy, doughy discs folded over its contents.  I had a combo, 2 baos, Peking duck -- roasted duck, scallion, cucumber, crushed peanut and hoisin sauce; shrimp tempura -- deep fried shrimp, red cabbage, red onion, cilantro, black sesame seeds and spicy mayo; and 8 pieces of popcorn chicken ($13).  I thought that the chicken had popped a bit too early before it was served, but it tasted good, as did the baos.  And, if you are still hungry, there's pizza, hamburgers, cookies, chicken sandwiches, lobster rolls, tacos, gumbo, poké bowls, ramen, doughnuts and sushi.  Maybe the crowds have left because they got exhausted having to make up their minds what to eat.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

"The One Thing No Israeli Wants to Discuss" is the misleading headline of an op-ed today that gets its argument wrong as well.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/09/opinion/israel-election-netanyahu.html

I don't entirely agree with the author's contention that "[n]o single episode has shaped Israel’s population and politics like the wave of suicide bombings perpetrated by Palestinians in the first years of the 21st century."  I would place the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, which opened the door to Benjamin Netanyahu and his repressive policies, as the turning point in contemporary Israeli history.  The author and I arrive at the same place, however.  "[T]hat period [of suicide bombings] explains the durability of Benjamin Netanyahu, which outsiders sometimes struggle to understand." 

The author confusedly claims that the population suffers a "repression of memory" of the violence, yet he recognizes that Netanyahu's electoral success is based on his emphasis of "the word 'security' [that] carries a kind of supernatural weight."  Looking at the record, the concern for security is perfectly reasonable.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_suicide_attacks

In the period 2000-2008 before Netanyahu took office, there were 147 suicide bombings in Israel, killing 634 people.  Since then, there have been 2 bombings, causing no deaths.  Of course, there have been other deadly attacks using trucks, cars, knives and guns, but I can understand the haunting specter raised by a suicide bombing, a fraction of a second separating life and death.  So, Netanyahu's campaign ad asserts that "in the stormy Mideastern sea we’ve proven that we can keep Israel an island of stability and safety" and the electorate has agreed in the last three elections, but by shrinking margins. 

Stay tuned.  The next election is September 17th.
. . .

Mark and Alex Dilman emigrated from Tbilisi, Georgia over 25 years ago.  Our then generous immigration policy allowed them to establish families and successful careers here.  However, neither one was available for dinner last night, so, with both of our wives preoccupied, Michael Ratner and I went to Old Tbilisi Garden, 174 Bleecker Street, advertising authentic Georgian cuisine.  It's a pleasant place with a covered garden at the back, fitting eight tables.  The rest of the space is long and narrow, with more than two dozen tables mostly in a straight line. 

The menu seemed authentic enough, given my limited exposure to Georgian cuisine, most memorably at a dinner cooked by Genya Dilman.  Michael and I shared hefty dumplings (khinkali), 3 meat and 3 cheese ($11 each plate); chicken makvalshi ($22.50), roasted chicken with blackberry sauce; and adjaruli khachapuri ($18), soft dough in the shape of a boat, baked with cheese with an egg stirred in when served.  A khachapuri and a cup of coffee should hold you until the weekend.  ისიამოვნეთ as they say in Tbilisi. 

Friday, September 13, 2019

Reading this interview with a Nigerian novelist, I have to play my Grumpy Old Man card.  “'I had a little bit of a crisis,' said [Akwaeke] Emezi, who uses the pronoun they.  'I stopped journaling.  I stopped writing for pleasure because I was just like, if I’m not getting paid for it, what’s the point?'”  While I should call them they, they call them I.  Why shouldn't they call them we?

The Jewish Question

Monday, September 2, 2019

"A shooting spree that unfolded Saturday afternoon during a chaotic, high-speed police chase in West Texas was not an act of terrorism, law enforcement authorities said as they continued to piece together what had led a gunman to open fire on motorists and police officers while driving along a 15-mile stretch of highways and shopping centers.”  How could we even think of a white, Christian killer as a terrorist?

. . .

It is pointless for a Jew to ask himself "Why am I Jewish?"  It is an accident of birth that is effectively irreversible in the eyes of friends and foes alike.  More significant is the question "Why do I call myself a Jew?”, a question that many people would never ask given how uncomfortable they are with the label in the first place.  I don't hesitate, however.  I am a Jew, though unfamiliar with scripture, dismissive of spirituality, aloof from much ritual, a Jew nevertheless.  

If I needed prompting in asserting my identity, The Book Smugglers by David E. Fishman, a book that I am in the middle of reading, would effectively get me back on track.  It is the story of a group of Jewish intellectuals in Vilna (Vilnius), Lithuania, some Yiddishists, some Hebraicists, some socialists, some Communists, some devout, some irreligious, calling themselves the "paper brigade," who risked their lives to save Jewish books and artifacts from Nazi expropriation and destruction.  They began their efforts as soon as the Nazis invaded Lithuania and ghettoized its Jews in June 1941.  They continued until Vilna, once a major center of Jewish life and education, was emptied of Jews in September 1943 by shooting, by hanging, by deportation, by starvation.  

In a sense, the Nazis facilitated the book smugglers, by grouping librarians, academics and writers to inventory and organize the wealth of materials held in major Jewish institutions outside the ghetto walls for shipment to Frankfurt and Berlin, an example of Judenforschung, anti-Semitic Jewish souvenir collecting.  Only some items interested the Nazis, who trashed much of what they got their hands on.  While the Jews lamented the loss of all items that represented their heritage, culture and beliefs, they made special efforts to keep holy items, such as Torah scrolls, and irreplaceable documents, such as Theodor Herzl’s diaries, away from the Nazis.  They smuggled the materials into the ghetto to be hidden in cellars, attics, or buried in the ground.  While other brave people smuggled bread, potatoes, eggs and guns into the ghetto, the paper brigade risked their lives to preserve the infrastructure of Judaism for a return to daylight at some future time.

This account is a vivid example of the rightness in labeling Jews the People of the Book, a term originating in the Koran, by the way.  I cannot walk away from this. 

. . .

The Upper West Side's Power Couple continued our almost perpetual motion by going to Massachusetts for the holiday weekend to spend time with the second and third generations.  After a day of shopping for back-to-school (or back-to-retirement, in my case) clothing at the Wrentham Village Premium Outlets, our gang had dinner at Sichuan Gourmet II, 271 Worcester Road, a family favorite.  It’s a sign of enlightened parenting that the grandchildren, ages 6, 9 and 11, all know their way around a Chinese menu and have their favorite dishes.  While there was some mixing and matching around the table, I concentrated on Sichuan cold noodles ($6.50), mei fun-angel hair-vermicelli, in a peppery, hot sauce; scallion pancake ($6.25); chicken in Yu Hsiang (“fish fragrance”) Sauce ($11.95), which contains vinegar, fermented broad beans, soy sauce and pickled chili peppers, but no fish or seafood; spicy cumin lamb ($16.95).  The children’s education is in good hands.

Tuesday, September 3, 2019
In case you are looking to move and insist on new construction, this article contains interesting data.  https://www.charlottestories.com/an-estimate-of-6000-new-apartments-are-waiting-to-be-opened-this-year-in-charlotte-metro/ 


Skip the Charlotte-specific stuff and scroll down to the table that lists the number of new apartments and the % change from last year for 83 U.S. markets.  In most cases, the rate of change up or down seems completely independent of population movement.  For instance, the Los Angeles metropolitan area had a 23% decline in new apartments, while only reporting a 0.1% decline in population.  Earlier figures are not provided, so you can only speculate on what's causing what.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

I had lunch with Max, the former Wonder Boy, at Bangkok Cuisine, 107-18 70th Road, Forest Hills, which has opened a branch in Manhattan.  I had not been to either, so I was willing to start out closer to Max’s home turf.  This proved quite satisfactory, since Bangkok Cuisine offered 17 lunch specials, including an appetizer, soup or salad, for $11.95 or $12.95 based on the major ingredient of the main course.  I had soup, a vegetable broth with 3 chunks of tofu afloat, 2 chicken/shrimp dumplings and “Drunken Noodles” with shredded chicken, eggs, yellow onions and bean sprouts.  The noodles were my favorite wide ones, chow fun, seemingly sober.

I may have scared Max by reminding him that, at age 34, he may have 50 more years to live.

Thursday, September 5, 2019

In contrast to yesterday’s lunch, the Boyz Club gathered today, a bunch of alte kockers, each hoping to have 50 more weeks to live.  To increase the prospects for our longevity, we ate at Wo Hop, 17 Mott Street, sharing beef chow fun, mei fun with scallion and ginger, moo shu chicken with pancakes, beef with scallions, pork fried rice and green beans in black bean sauce.  Several of us had soup, hot and sour or won ton, as well, with Wo Hop's world-class crispy noodles.  Bottom line, big smiles and $15 each.
. . .

In the evening, I went to hear Clifton Hood, an urban historian, speak about "A History of the New York City Subway," based on  his book 722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York.  Hood is not an engineer and he took a retrospective look, while many in the audience wanted to hear about corrective measures and technical improvements.  And, the audience was the real story.  The SVA Theater, 333 West 23rd Street, was absolutely full, all 479 seats and a few extra folding chairs were occupied.  This was no Marvel Super Hero adventure, no umpteenth Star Wars sequel.  In fact, few, if any, of the nerdy adolescents usually beguiled by galaxies long ago and far away were in the building.  It was grownups, adults, citizens concerned about this critical element of our urban life.  Might this make any difference, a signal of increased civic engagement?  Well, Rosh Hashanah is coming up and this would be something worth praying for.
   
Friday, September 6, 2019
Lefties -- a study by scientists at Oxford University has good news and bad news for us left-handed people.  We have a very slightly lower chance of having Parkinson’s disease, but a very slightly higher chance of having schizophrenia.   https://academic.oup.com/brain/advance-article/doi/10.1093/brain/awz257/5556832?searchresult=1

That means that we will live longer hearing weird voices.