Saturday, December 24, 2022
An obituary of a distinguished mathematician led me to what may have been his most important research project. In 1976, Albert Madansky, a professor at the University of Chicago, and Martin Shubik, an economist from Yale University, published a comparative study of the pastrami and corned beef at four leading New York City delicatessens, the Carnegie, Deli-East, Gaiety East and the Stage.
In a blind tasting of eight sandwiches, they rated Deli-East first and the Stage fourth. The winning sandwich was also the least expensive at $1.10. This study may have been inconsequential, but the authors’ stature got it published in The University of Chicago Magazine with attendant hoopla. It is important to note that none of the establishments were Kosher and all are now out of business. One thing that they got right, however, was the choice of an appropriate beverage, Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray Tonic.
Sunday, December 25, 2022
We return to how nearly impossible it is to afford decent housing in urban America This survey calculates the annual salary needed to afford the median-priced home in our largest cities.
They range from the sublime, $55,006 in Pittsburgh, to the ridiculous, $359,127 in San Jose. While the Rust Belt contains many of the least expensive cities, California takes the four most expensive slots.
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The Upper West Side’s Power Couple drove up to Eastern Massachusetts to visit briefly the second and third generations and to fetch grandson Noam for a holiday with his grandparents. The trip up was quick and uneventful. Having once before found every eating establishment on the route through Connecticut closed on Christmas day, we purchased sandwiches in our own less pious neighborhood and ate them along the way.
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For dinner, the seven of us went to Bawarchi Biryanis, 700 Worcester Road, Framingham, joining a crowd of South Asians who also didn’t want to be limited to Chinese food. We had tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, Kadai Paneer (cheese and bell peppers cooked in a spicy tomato sauce), Lamb Khorma (marinated lamb cooked in yogurt and spices), Bhagara Bhaigan (eggplant curry), butter naan, garlic naan, rice and, inevitably, heartburn, which should not be a deterrent.
Monday, December 26, 2022
In overly dramatic contrast to yesterday when it took just over four hours to drive 180 miles, eat lunch and fill the gas tank, today the same trip took seven-and-a-half hours. It seems that everyone on the road got a collision for Christmas.
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
“No matter where they live in the world, no matter what their cultural or family influences: In general, women are better at empathizing with other people than men, according to a study published Monday in the journal PNAS.”
Baloney!
. . .
We began Project Noam, an attempt to present his grandparents to a 12-year old as tolerable human beings, at &pizza, 840 Broadway. This is a special pizza joint. They cook your individual pizza, roughly 4” x 11”, in minutes, with any combination of ingredients that you can imagine. While Noam kept it simple, tomato sauce, mozzarella and black olives, I loaded up, tomato sauce, mozzarella, salami, pepperoni, Italian sausage, basil pesto and parmesan-romano ($13.29). Multi bene.
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We had some time to show Noam the Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway, a major landmark, before going to a matinee of the Blue Man Group. This was the third time that I have seen this weird group over several decades. Maybe that’s why my name appeared somewhat mockingly on an illuminated strip above the stage, which particularly amused my co-grandparent.
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Dinner was a sort of disappointment. I didn’t realize that a kid growing up in a respectable suburb could lead a pastrami-free existence. Given that it’s Tuesday, my young bride and I both eagerly ordered the Tuesday special at Pastrami Queen, 138 West 72nd Street, pastrami on a dinner roll and corned beef on a dinner roll and French fries, coleslaw and pickles ($19.95). Noam, however, could not be convinced to dive into Kosher delicatessen and stuck to a bowl of chicken noodle soup.
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
We cut back on the program today, because Noam felt a bit schwa likely due to his foregoing pastrami and corned beef at dinner last night. He felt well enough, however, to go to the Big Apple Circus, held on the grounds of Lincoln Center, just blocks away.
I don’t know if he enjoyed it more than his grandparents did. While the Big Apple Circus substituted poodles for lions and tigers and had only one very overworked clown, it otherwise compared favorably with my memory of a 1992 Barnum & Bailey performance.
. . .
A variety of randomly distributed head cold symptoms kept us home for dinner, lovingly prepared by #1 Bubby.
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F. Scott Fitzgerald is supposed to have said once to Ernest Hemingway, “You know, the rich are different from you and me.” So, are Holy Landers different when naming their children?
https://home3.nyc.gov/site/
Not really. Except for swapping Joseph for James and Aiden for Henry, and replacing Harper (!) with Luna, we pretty much line up with the rest of the good old USA. https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
Thursday, December 29, 2022
We visited the Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Ave, Astoria, a must-see. Admission was free today for some reason, but the large crowd was probably as unaware as were were when entering.
There is a permanent Jim Henson exhibition, showing his amazing creativity before, during and after Sesame Street. The current exhibit is "Living with The Walking Dead," focusing on zombies or Republicans.
Friday, December 30,2022
Operation Noam ended today, when we returned him to the sheltering arms of his nuclear family. For mutual convenience, the reunion was held at Hudson Taco, 27 South Water Street, Newburgh, New York, a former train station sitting right alongside the Hudson River. It was more than the scenic view that attracted a full house at lunch time.
I had a Baja fish taco ($2.75), two General Tso's chicken tacos ($2.75), and a Korean BBQ short rib taco ($3.75). In all, we ate 27 tacos of five varieties, to general delight.
. . .
Summing up Operation Noam, all the organized entertainment rated A+. Meals at home and outside, however, were less well received. A mild cold/flu was a limiting factor, as well as the refrain "That's not the way my mother makes it."
lucky kid
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