Monday, February 15, 2021
Someone took the trouble to do a survey of pet names at the oldest continually operating pet cemetery in the United States, located in Hartsdale, NY, resting place of more than 80,000 buried pets. https://nyti.ms/2Znx8Hj
Princess led overall, mostly dogs. Tiger was favored for cats. As with children's names, there were trends. "[T]he most common dog names in the 1930s and 1940s were Queenie and Tippy; Lady ruled the 1960s, and Brandy rose to the top in the 1970s."
I never owned a dog, or a cat for that matter, so I never faced the need to choose a name. What comes to my mind now are the most plebeian choices - Fido, Fluffy, Spot, or Kitty. I just don't have the imagination that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West demonstrated in naming their children -- North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm.
A headline over an op-ed this weekend read: "Politicians Are Actually Real People." I demur, Only Some Politicians Are Actually Real People.
A more disturbing headline appeared the other day: "Germany sees spike in anti-Semitic crimes." https://www.dw.com/en/germany-
I believe that it's no secret that many, if not most, Jews in the diaspora remain alert to the dangers of anti-Semitism, figuratively looking over their shoulders even as they achieve success in almost all walks of life. In Germany, as in Europe generally, the surge in immigration from Moslem countries has increased concerns about anti-Semitism. For some, this offers an opportunity to rewrite history and current events. The National Review implores "Don’t Blame the Surge of European Anti-Semitism on the Populists." https://www.nationalreview.
The sub-head on this article claims that "Downplaying the role of Muslim immigrants distorts the truth." Of course, here truthiness is substituted for truth. In Germany, "Anti-Semitic crimes were reportedly up 13 percent last year [2019] to 2,032 cases, with more than 93 percent of perpetrators associated with the far right." https://thehill.com/
To be clear, the "populists" that the National Review wishes to shield are simply defined as those "opposing European unity and globalism," although it reluctantly admits that includes "the right-wing AfD in Germany, the National Front in France led by Marine Le Pen, or the conservative ruling parties in such countries as Poland and Hungary." Other folks might call them Fascists.
The New York Times this weekend examined "When Can I Be a House Guest Again?" https://nyti.ms/3d69pmJ
Indeed, I have the urge to sleep in a bed not my own, whether provided by a friend or a hotelier. One section of this article was particularly interesting: "Which Pandemic Habits Might Stick?" I also considered the flip side, which pre-pandemic habits might be lost, especially behavior that red-blooded Americans were never comfortable with in the first place -- greeting an acquaintance, even a stranger, with a kiss.
Outside of Asia and Africa, this is (was) commonplace. Here's a summary:
Will this form of welcoming return? It's too soon to tell, but you may want to have the ChapStick® ready, just in case.
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
My views on the Israeli-Palestinian situation are simple: The issue is very complex and probably intractable. I would like to think that there is an answer or answers, but that is becoming more and more a fantasy. The best that I can do is nibble at the margins of the problem. Here's my reaction after reading yet another book, "The Moral Triangle: Germans, Israelis, Palestinians," an ethnographic study (whatever that means) of the attitudes among the three groups co-existing in Berlin. The Germans question themselves, the Israelis and the Palestinians; the Israelis question themselves, the Germans and the Palestinians; the Palestinians question only the Germans and the Israelis. That's it. Not an ounce of introspection.
I don't read Hebrew or Arabic, but an English language bibliography on the Middle East would probably exceed the output on Lincoln's doctor's dog. The authors are usually Jewish; some boast, some lament. The opinions are diverse, contradictory, typical of any collection of Jewish ideas. But, more often than not, there is a sense of responsibility, something I don't get from the Palestinians. Yes, you are victims, but you have to be something more. You cannot rely upon British Marxists or Berkeley undergraduates for your future.
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
It's Wednesday, which is a good reason to go to dinner at a Michelin two star restaurant. We chose Gabriel Kreuther, 41 West 42nd Street, named for its Alsatian chef-owner. We dined on the restaurant's "patio," a very substantial structure built in front of the recessed entrance to the permanent restaurant.
Someone took the trouble to do a survey of pet names at the oldest continually operating pet cemetery in the United States, located in Hartsdale, NY, resting place of more than 80,000 buried pets. https://nyti.ms/2Znx8Hj
Princess led overall, mostly dogs. Tiger was favored for cats. As with children's names, there were trends. "[T]he most common dog names in the 1930s and 1940s were Queenie and Tippy; Lady ruled the 1960s, and Brandy rose to the top in the 1970s."
I never owned a dog, or a cat for that matter, so I never faced the need to choose a name. What comes to my mind now are the most plebeian choices - Fido, Fluffy, Spot, or Kitty. I just don't have the imagination that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West demonstrated in naming their children -- North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm.
. . .
A headline over an op-ed this weekend read: "Politicians Are Actually Real People." I demur, Only Some Politicians Are Actually Real People.
. . .
A more disturbing headline appeared the other day: "Germany sees spike in anti-Semitic crimes." https://www.dw.com/en/germany-
I believe that it's no secret that many, if not most, Jews in the diaspora remain alert to the dangers of anti-Semitism, figuratively looking over their shoulders even as they achieve success in almost all walks of life. In Germany, as in Europe generally, the surge in immigration from Moslem countries has increased concerns about anti-Semitism. For some, this offers an opportunity to rewrite history and current events. The National Review implores "Don’t Blame the Surge of European Anti-Semitism on the Populists." https://www.nationalreview.
The sub-head on this article claims that "Downplaying the role of Muslim immigrants distorts the truth." Of course, here truthiness is substituted for truth. In Germany, "Anti-Semitic crimes were reportedly up 13 percent last year [2019] to 2,032 cases, with more than 93 percent of perpetrators associated with the far right." https://thehill.com/
To be clear, the "populists" that the National Review wishes to shield are simply defined as those "opposing European unity and globalism," although it reluctantly admits that includes "the right-wing AfD in Germany, the National Front in France led by Marine Le Pen, or the conservative ruling parties in such countries as Poland and Hungary." Other folks might call them Fascists.
. . .
The New York Times this weekend examined "When Can I Be a House Guest Again?" https://nyti.ms/3d69pmJ
Indeed, I have the urge to sleep in a bed not my own, whether provided by a friend or a hotelier. One section of this article was particularly interesting: "Which Pandemic Habits Might Stick?" I also considered the flip side, which pre-pandemic habits might be lost, especially behavior that red-blooded Americans were never comfortable with in the first place -- greeting an acquaintance, even a stranger, with a kiss.
Outside of Asia and Africa, this is (was) commonplace. Here's a summary:
- One Kiss: Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, the Philippines.
- Two Kisses: Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Bosnia, and some Middle Eastern countries (though not between opposite sexes).
- Three Kisses: Belgium, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Egypt, and Russia.
- The number varying by region in Brazil and France.
Will this form of welcoming return? It's too soon to tell, but you may want to have the ChapStick® ready, just in case.
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
My views on the Israeli-Palestinian situation are simple: The issue is very complex and probably intractable. I would like to think that there is an answer or answers, but that is becoming more and more a fantasy. The best that I can do is nibble at the margins of the problem. Here's my reaction after reading yet another book, "The Moral Triangle: Germans, Israelis, Palestinians," an ethnographic study (whatever that means) of the attitudes among the three groups co-existing in Berlin. The Germans question themselves, the Israelis and the Palestinians; the Israelis question themselves, the Germans and the Palestinians; the Palestinians question only the Germans and the Israelis. That's it. Not an ounce of introspection.
I don't read Hebrew or Arabic, but an English language bibliography on the Middle East would probably exceed the output on Lincoln's doctor's dog. The authors are usually Jewish; some boast, some lament. The opinions are diverse, contradictory, typical of any collection of Jewish ideas. But, more often than not, there is a sense of responsibility, something I don't get from the Palestinians. Yes, you are victims, but you have to be something more. You cannot rely upon British Marxists or Berkeley undergraduates for your future.
Wednesday, February 17, 2021
It's Wednesday, which is a good reason to go to dinner at a Michelin two star restaurant. We chose Gabriel Kreuther, 41 West 42nd Street, named for its Alsatian chef-owner. We dined on the restaurant's "patio," a very substantial structure built in front of the recessed entrance to the permanent restaurant.
The electric heaters coped with the 28°
temperature and the staff was very attentive. Only four of the dozen tables outside were eventually occupied, but the interior seemed to be at its capacity-controlled maximum.
I had a three-course dinner, described on the menu as foie gras and cashew praline with vanilla-raisin jam, banana liqueur gelee, and five spice cornbread; sturgeon and sauerkraut tart with mousseline, applewood smoke and Beluga caviar; Long Island duck leg confit with local polenta, pancetta and lobster mushroom ragou. It was all remarkably good. The smoke made a momentary appearance under a small bell jar that covered the tart, a signature dish of the chef.
Madam, in an unnecessary display of self-control, had only Greenwalk Hatchery trout with marinated brussels sprouts, green olive-almond relish, and fennel velout. But, with the amusing bouches before and the chocolates after the meal, itself washed down with wine, she was almost as sated as I was.
On a historic note, it was the first time that I wore a tie since Aaron Persily's Bar Mitzvah on November 9, 2019.
. . .
To prepare for this luxurious experience, I Zoomed into a discussion of "Kaddish for Knishes? The Uncertain Future of the Jewish Deli" earlier in the afternoon. Vocabulary lesson: Kaddish - the Hebrew prayer for the dead; Knish -
a baked or fried snack food consisting of a filling covered with dough, which may lead to an early death.
The discussion by the food editor of The Forward, the English language version of the classic Yiddish newspaper, the owner of a Jewish (but not Kosher) deli in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and the author of
"Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen", was mildly interesting, but I was annoyed by its failure to delineate the Kosher delicatessen from the Jewish delicatessen, from the dairy restaurant, from the appetizing store. A serious person would not mention blintzes and pastrami in the same breath.
Thursday, February 18, 2021
If you want anti-Semitism, I'll give you anti-Semitism. "Jews, open your eyes, why rush? The gentiles can get vaccinated first." This Covid-19 advice appears on posters pasted up by ultra-Orthodox Jews on the walls of their own neighborhoods in Jerusalem, neighborhoods with an infection rate well more than twice their share of the population. https://www.nytimes.com/
Precautions are fruitless, according to some, because the virus was a punishment from God, retribution for the Jews’ failure to obey religious rules. The Haggadah, the story of the Exodus told each year at Passover, says "In each and every generation they rise up against us to destroy us." This time, the enemy is within.
1--C'mon--you owned a dog when you lived in Sherman Oaks.
ReplyDelete2--On greeting kisses:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kxL9Cf46VM
3--On kissing strangers: https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2021/feb/15/kiss-off-does-covid-mark-the-end-of-the-passionate-impromptu-snog
My original wife owned the dog. I lived under the same roof with both.
DeleteReally? Not a word? Here's one, courtesy of my brother in law, though not original (he heard it from a W Bush political advisor on the radio): Why do most people take such an instant dislike to Ted Cruz? It saves time.
ReplyDeleteLast line = perfect.
DeleteWhen I was a kid I had a pet rabbit named Spot. The oddest naming I have come across is human: Mr and Ms Lyman had five boys named: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Cornell. I only knew Harvard, we called him Harvey.
ReplyDelete