Comings and Goings

Saturday, April 9, 2022

Clue 31 Across - Huffing and puffing, e.g.

. . .

 

While the Trump Organization is the official business of the ex-president, Amazon is aiming to be his actual incarnation.  “Amazon objected on Friday to a landmark union election at its Staten Island fulfillment center, saying an upstart union’s unorthodox tactics there crossed legal lines, according to a copy of its filing to the National Labor Relations Board obtained by The New York Times.”

Amazon, which regularly conducts anti-union training programs during working hours whenever a union vote is pending, doesn’t believe that it can be allowed to lose.  https://newlaborforum.cuny.edu/2021/11/15/crushing-unions-by-any-means-necessary-how-amazons-blistering-anti-union-campaign-won-in-bessemer-alabama/

 

It’s Amazon, a winner!

 

Sunday, April 10, 2022

I have been thinking about Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and the New York Rangers.  Goethe (1749-1832) is best known for his play Faust, based on a classical German legend.  Faust, a restless intellectual, makes a pact with the Devil, promising to exchange a life in Hell for a transcendent moment on Earth, not believing that he could experience such a moment.  Until Faust succumbs, if he ever should, he is imbued with magic powers.  

 

As I learned in my college German class, Faust would be doomed if he ever utters "Verweile doch, du bist so schön," asking time to stand still so that he might appreciate its beauty.  Denying the inexorable movement of time would be fatal to Faust.  However, I always looked at it the other way.  Every moment is important and the desire to rush forward, skipping valuable time, unrecoverable time, is a rejection of life.  As we age, every fraction of time becomes more precious.

 

That's my philosophical stance, but then there is the New York Rangers, the professional ice hockey team.  Hockey, like basketball, but unlike baseball, is governed by the clock.  Ordinarily, there are 60 minutes in a game.  This year, after 73 games, the Rangers have won 21 by one goal, the narrowest margin.  This means that, as the games neared an end, the Rangers were leading by one goal, a thin thread.  

 

I admit that, at those moments, I wished time to fly, the remaining time to disappear, so that the victory might be immediately secured.  Apparently, the Devil was distracted, because my soul remains under my control.  

. . .

 

Maybe we should all be rich, like Akshata Murty.  She is happily married to Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, one of the most powerful positions in the British government.  She is also the daughter of one of India’s richest businessmen and, coincidentally, she claims non-domiciled status in Britain, saving her millions of pounds a year in taxes.  It’s like the joke about the dog, “Because he can.”

. . .

 

"How Much Apartment Space Does $1,500 Get You in America’s 100 Largest Cities"  

https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/apartmentliving/rental-space-for-1500/

 

Room for those books, electronics, tchotchkes or visiting relatives always seems hard to come by in a Holy Land residence.  But, if Wichita, Kansas is the answer, let's not ask the question.

 

Monday, April 11, 2022

Andrew Solomon has written a long and painful article on childhood suicide.  The agony and frustration of family and friends confronting tragedy is palpable, but unresolved.

http://andrewsolomon.com/articles/the-mystifying-rise-of-child-suicide/

 

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Art Spar, the poet laureate of West End Synagogue, accompanied me to the Rangers game tonight.  

           Nevertheless,

           All I can say

           Is that I hope

           That we can play another day.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Madam and I went out to dinner, a relatively rare occurrence during the week, but nearly the last step as we approach the turbulent Red Sea.   Appropriately enough, we went to Miznon North, 129 West 72nd Street, an Israeli restaurant.  

Not only is the chef named Victor Gothelf, but, as a result of my frequent visits since it opened, I seemed to know more about the menu than the servers.  Actually, it wasn’t the menu that I discussed with them, but what wasn’t on the menu, notably the fabulous schnitzel that comes and goes erratically.

What we ate was very good or better.  We shared the beetroot carpaccio ($13) and a small, freshly-baked focaccia ($6).  My young bride had “7 Ricotta Clouds,” gnocchi in a butter and cheese sauce ($23), while I had lamb kebab, four 2” long cylinders of ground lamb, broiled just right, with a light tomatoey-olive oil sauce ($27).  As good as everything tasted, portions were very small considering the prices or maybe I haven’t been to Israel lately.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Our escape from Egypt began today by driving to Natick, Massachusetts, a well-established portal to the Sinai Desert.

                                . . .

Since I retired from the court system, I haven't been crawling the downtown streets with any frequency.  Therefore, it was an unwelcome surprise to learn that Forlini's Restaurant, 93 Baxter Street, has closed.  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/08/style/forlinis-closing.html?referringSource=articleShare

It was a reliable source of Italian food like my mama would have made if she were Italian.  Because of its proximity to the criminal courts, it looked like the real life cast of "Law & Order" at lunchtime.  In fact, the second week of this literary adventure included a judge’s retirement party at Forlini's (January 14, 2016).  Not only was it a free lunch, Robert Johnson, then Bronx District Attorney, sat opposite me.  Because he had to rush off, he agreed to order a cannoli for dessert so I could have two.  They were excellent.

   

Friday, April 15, 2022

In case you know Slim Gaillard only from “Flat Foot Floogie,” give a listen (thanks to Thespian Emeritus Paul Hecht).

https://youtu.be/ntUNRiC5-z0?list=RDntUNRiC5-z0

                           . . .

Answer = GERUNDS