Monday, November 2, 2020
Here is my shopping list for tomorrow's election:
Cal Cunningham - Senate
Mike Esty - Senate
Mike Esty - Senate
Jaime Harrison - Senate
Doug Jones - Senate
Doug Jones - Senate
Mark Kelly - Senate
Amy McGrath - Senate
Gary Peters - Senate
Phil Arballo - House
Nancy Goroff - House
Jones and Peters are incumbents. Jones in Alabama probably faces the greatest challenge. He won his seat against a child molester, but now is opposed by a retired college football coach, a position not far removed Down South from attendance at the Last Supper. Peters, a white liberal, is facing a Black conservative in Michigan. The others are trying to unseat the sort of human waste that we now call Republicans. Additionally, I contributed to several pinko groups aiming at fair elections. I’ll report on my personal results later in the century.
. . .
A picture in today’s paper shows an anti-mask demonstrator carrying a sign that reads “This is political not medical.” I’ll remember that when I schedule my next colonoscopy with Mike Pence. What are these people thinking? Last week, I reported on a petition by college football players to be allowed to mingle their blood, sweat, tears and spit with their peers. How about parents suing to overturn a mask mandate for their public school children? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/
. . .
Cowards. That's what I thought as I walked around the neighborhood today and saw store windows being boarded up. What are they expecting? In 2016, Trump lost New York State by 22.5% and Manhattan particularly by 76%, and the results this year are unlikely to differ significantly. So, who's going to do what to whom? Are the anarchic Jews of West End Synagogue going to storm the smoked fish counter at Zabar's without taking a number? When the sagacious David
Goldfarb observed that the Pottery Barn on Broadway at 67th Street had been boarded up, he asked "Who wants anything from Pottery Barn?"
What a reflection on our times.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
To be continued.
Wednesday, November 4, 2020 @ 8:30 A.M.
Here we are and where is that exactly? In the morning hours, it is too early to tell. Still, I am aghast. Forget for now the gross errors in predicting the outcome. How could we even approach such a narrow division of sentiment, almost the exact replica of 2016? Not quite a majority enamored of the sitting president, but enough support at the right time and place to place the Electoral College within reach.
Thursday, November 5, 2020
"My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over." The break with the immediate past was not, in fact, over when Gerald Ford spoke in August 1974. There were still trials and jail sentences for some of Richard Nixon's co-conspirators, but the government itself seemed to rebound quickly. Legislation followed that tried to curb some of Nixon's excesses and the national elections of 1974 and 1976 brought in new faces and ideas, at least temporarily.
It may be some time before we are able to repeat Ford's words. Even January 20, 2021 may be too soon if we regard attitudes, not just formalities. After all, about 49% of the American electorate voted for That Guy. When I look at the words in just one story about the incumbent that ran on Election Day, I am reminded of Mad Libs, the long lasting divertisement created by Price/Stern/Sloan Publishers (PSS) in the 1960s. You know, fill in the blank spots with nouns, adjectives, verbs as directed, invariably producing a silly tale. Try to insert the name of any other American president. "______
has threatened to sue when the election is over." "______
expects to face intensifying scrutiny from prosecutors if he loses." "______ associates say he simply enjoys attacking [his opponent's] family." https://www.nytimes.com/2020/
So much about the last 3-1/2 years has been a radical departure from our modern political history (I'll skip the early 19th Century when duels resulted from political differences) that the pendulum's future resting point may still be far from where we started.
One interesting footnote to this election is the return of socialism to our politics, not socialist policies -- Bernie Sanders will only increasingly be confused with Larry David in the future -- but as an insulting label. It makes me feel young again.
. . .
Speaking of PSS, headquartered in Los Angeles, I did significant computer work for them in the 1970s, when I lived on the Left Coast. Larry Sloan ran the business for his friends Roger Price, a comedian and writer ("I'm For Me First"), and Leonard Stern, comedy writer and producer ("The Honeymooners," "Get Smart" among many others), who created Mad Libs when they were writers on "The Steve Allen Show."
PSS was thriving in the 1970s and I bought stock, something like 2,000 shares at $1.50 each. A dozen years later, I was back in the Holy Land and promoted to partner in a major accounting/consulting firm. The rules of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants barred partners from holding shares in a client company and, sure enough, my firm audited PSS. Accordingly, I sold the stock for about four times what I paid for it, a good return after many years (11.5%), but not jaw dropping.
Another decade passes and I get a letter from a sort of salvage company telling me that, unbeknownst to me, but known to them, there is "treasure" belonging to me, which, for a hefty fee, they will retrieve. Go ahead, cross my palm with silver and they did, netting me about $11,000 for more PSS shares, in spite of the transaction by Merrill Lynch 10 years earlier that professedly cleared the account. I had remained friends with Larry Sloan and, when I subsequently asked him about this, he was as puzzled as I was. Not that I was puzzled enough to not spend the money.
. . .
And now for something completely different. Barnes & Noble offers its list of "The 10 Best Books of 2020." https://m.barnesandnoble.com/
It starts with Barack Obama's memoir, "A Promised Land," which isn't even officially released. However, just as Michelle Obama tore it up last year with "Becoming," his work is expected to be wildly successful. "The 768-page book is the most anticipated presidential memoir in memory, as much or more because of the quality of the writing than for any possible revelations." https://www.marketwatch.com/
I read an excerpt on crafting Obamacare that ran in The New Yorker last week. It was refreshing to be exposed to a president's erudition and thoughtfulness. Maybe a bit sad, too.
Friday, November 6, 2020
I can count seeing "Fiddler on the Roof" on stage four times -- the original Broadway run in the 1960s, but long after Zero Mostel left the show; the Broadway revival of 2015 with Mike Burstein and the lovely Jessica Hecht; and the Yiddish production twice, in 2018 and 2019. If I saw the movie, released in 1971, I am sure that I didn't like it, because movie musicals never approach their stage versions. (Note that the opening movie scene of "West Side Story" defies this generality, with Jerome Robbins's masterful choreography shot outdoors on the rubble where Palazzo di Gotthelf would later rise.)
There is another "Fiddler" movie, however, that I heartily recommend, "Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles," a documentary released last year about its continuing worldwide popularity and attraction to diverse ethnic and national populations. You don't have to be Jewish, as it was once said. It will be shown on PBS on Friday, November 13th at 9 P.M.
. . .
Here's the report card on the candidates that I supported with two to three figure donations. I backed underdogs mostly, because they needed the most help and their opponents were among the most appalling. So, I am more disappointed than surprised by the poor showing, although I admit surprise at the closeness of the national results.
Cal Cunningham lost in North Carolina
Mike Esty lost in Mississippi
Mike Esty lost in Mississippi
Jaime Harrison lost in South Carolina
Doug Jones lost in Alabama
Doug Jones lost in Alabama
Mark Kelly won in Arizona
Amy McGrath lost in Kentucky
Gary Peters won in Michigan
Phil Arballo lost in California
Nancy Goroff lost in New York
. . .
Time Out published "The best comfort food dishes in NYC" just at the right moment. https://www.timeout.com/
It made me assemble my random list:
- French toast at B&H Dairy Restaurant, 127 Second Avenue
- Shrimps in lobster sauce over shrimp fried rice (custom) at Wo Hop, 17 Mott Street
- Roti canai at Wok Wok Southeast Asian Kitchen, 11 Mott Street
- Sesame noodles at 21 Shanghai, 21 Mott Street
- Scallion pancake at Shanghai Asian Cuisine, 14A Elizabeth Street
- Baked BBQ pork buns at Tim Ho Wan, 610 Ninth Avenue
- Frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3, 225 East 60th Street
- French fries at Nathan's Famous, 1310 Surf Avenue, Coney Island
- Queen Malka Schnitzel at Miznon North, 161 West 72nd Street
- Chicken sandwich at Popeyes [sic] Louisiana Kitchen, various locations
- Chocolate chip cookies at Jacques Torres, 285 Amsterdam Avenue
- Roast beef hash at Smith & Wollensky, 797 Third Avenue
- Dark Russet Kettle Cooked Potato Chips at Trader Joe's, various locations
Suggestions tolerated.
What about soup dumplings at Shanghai Asian Manor?
ReplyDeleteHeartily agree about the ff's at NF...and I've found they're as good at other NF outposts...I can't believe you left out the roast pork lo mein or chow fun at Wo Hop...and I must add the pizza at DiFara, the lettuce-wrapped duck packages at Canton and the pork ribs at Hill Country...
ReplyDeleteand the rest is history...
ReplyDelete