Saturday, December 10, 2022
The stars must have been in alignment. When the New York Theatre Workshop announced that it was reviving "Merrily We Roll Along," Stephen Sondheim's most notorious flop and my favorite work of his regardless, I marked the day tickets went on sale. But, when the day came, all the tickets were gobbled up within minutes.
Then, fate intervened. Lyn Dobrin told me that her grandson Ryan was the assistant director of the show. This allowed us to get on a special waiting list and, sure enough, four tickets for this Saturday matinee were offered to us. We went and were thrilled and delighted. The opening is a day or two away, but it is sure to be a hit and a likely candidate to move to Broadway after this limited run.
After the show, Ryan joined his grandparents and us for dinner at Marufuku Ramen, 92 Second Avenue, a formal setting for this most informal dish. Walking in you only see a long counter with stools facing the food preparation area. When you imagine that you are being led out the back door, a large dining room opens up, decorated in a dark/neutral color scheme. We settled in a large booth and bothered Ryan with questions about aspects of the show and its performers, which he handled with aplomb, although he must have welcomed the distraction caused by the arrival of the food.
I had "Chicken Paitan DX," consisting of a milky white broth (paitan broth) made from chicken bones and chicken feet, with chicken breast, soft boiled egg, green onions, kikurage (wood ear) mushrooms and bean sprouts, accompanied by a lacquered grilled chicken leg ($21.50). It was delicious, but, for some reason, limited to 15 servings per day, maybe to spare the chicken population. Highly recommended, if you get there on time.
Sunday, December 11, 2022
I came across this ranking by cost of four-year public institutions and private, not-for-profit institutions in all 50 states, including the District of Columbia. https://
The top-line numbers are shockingly high; in many cases, financial aid brings the figures down merely to exorbitant from extortionate. "The most expensive college in the U.S. that has undergraduates and awards bachelor’s degrees in the academic year 2021-2022 is Columbia University in New York City. Its undergraduate tuition and fees cost $69,986, for both in-state and out-of-state students."
A bigger surprise was the second-most expensive college in the United States: Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, with undergraduate tuition and fees at $66,064. While Columbia graduates often go on to substantially lucrative professional, financial or industrial careers, JTS's output of rabbis and cantors rarely have a need to shelter income.
Monday, December 12, 2022
A shopping trip to New Jersey led Madam and I to Noah’s Ark, 79 Cedar Lane, Teaneck, for a late lunch. This Kosher delicatessen in a very Jewish neighborhood was empty at 2 P.M. We decided to share a corned beef and chopped liver combo ($29.95), expecting that half would hold me until dinner. While the quality was good, the portion was paltry and only my fabled self-control sustained me for the next few hours.
When I met Gentleman Jerry for dinner at Ben's Kosher Delicatessen Restaurant, 209 West 38th Street, before going to the Rangers game at Madison Square Garden, I avoided making a direct comparison with Noah’s Ark. However, the size of my Original Brisket panini, served with caramelized onions and fresh horseradish sauce on a brioche roll, French fries included ($21.99), clearly gave the advantage to Ben’s.
Coleslaw and sour pickles were first-rate at both joints and the Rangers scored a fabulous victory.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
I fumbled my brother’s birthday gift today, so keep after me until I get it right.
. . .
Censorship is alive and well, especially in those parts of the country where the reddest-blooded Americans boast loudly of their freedom and bravery.
“This is not about banning books, it’s about protecting the innocence of our children," says one vigilant vigilante. How fragile that innocence must be. He blathers on about “letting the parents decide what the child gets rather than having government schools indoctrinate our kids.” May we soon expect parental controls on trigonometry?
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Thirty years ago today, at a small New England liberal arts college, a student shot and killed a professor and a fellow student, and wounded three other students and a staff member. The killer was a loner, unhappy about no one knows what. While the state where the tragedy occurred would ordinarily bar him from the purchase of the murder weapon, the leniency of his home state overrode this constraint. But, while the legal path was left open to the killer, a major lapse of common sense enabled the horror.
He first made a mail order purchase of ammunition before even buying a semi-automatic rifle locally. When a box of bullets arrived at the college’s mail room, the administration was notified. However, he was given the package out of a supposed concern for his privacy, which he then lied about and hid when his room was searched. The next day, he murdered. As it happens, the professor was the brother of a friend.
Exactly 20 years later, a disgruntled 20-year old murdered 20 first grade students and six school personnel at Sandy Hook Elementary School after first killing his mother with one of several weapons that she had purchased for him.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
I’m trying to avoid replaying the myriad “Best of” lists that sprout at this time of year. However, here is a headline that goes to the head of the class: “They Fought the Lawn. And the Lawn Lost.”
Friday, December 16, 2022
CNN hosted a folksy end-of-term conversation between Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. https://www.cnn.com/videos/
While it displays their friendly interplay, I was most intrigued by the setting. They were meeting and eating in a Chinese restaurant. Schumer, showing his Brooklyn Jewish roots, is scoffing up everything, dumplings to Peking duck. But, where were they? In my never-ending devotion to public service, I uncovered that they were eating at Hunan Dynasty, 215 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. https://hunandynastycapitolhill.com/
I can't find any major league reviews of the restaurant, but who wants to argue with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer?
When I first read your observation of the seminary's tuition, I thought it said "JTS's output of rabbis and cantors rarely have a need to shtetl income," and I was curious to learn more about shtetl's life as a verb.
ReplyDelete"Schumer, showing his Brooklyn Jewish roots, is scoffing up everything, dumplings to Peking duck."
ReplyDeleteA true son of Brooklyn.
I had dinner with Chuck at--what at the time seemed to a very callow me to be--an upscale Chinese restaurant on Mott at the corner of Worth, I think it was a winter holiday gathering for his full Albany & district staff (and seated by his side was the former director of his district office, who had left but later became his girlfriend, and would shortly tie the knot with him; they've been married about 42 years). I think it was 1978 or 79.
I eat at Hunan Dynasty frequently as it is very close to the Library of Congress. I would be delighted to take you there, Alan, but I would say it is somewhat below your usual standard....
ReplyDeleteLawns are an issue. Paint colors are an even bigger issue.
ReplyDelete