Monday, March 20, 2023
I had lunch today at the oddly named Flats Fix Taco y Tequila Bar, 28 East 16th Street. There are some tires stacked on the sidewalk outside and the inside has a rough industrial look. Supposedly, there was once a garage here, but now the space is occupied by four high tables, two four-tops and one two-top of regular height plus a full service bar with ten stools.
The guacamole that I started with was disappointing. For $9, the portion was very small and the taste bland. Fortunately, the three tacos that I ordered were excellent ($13.75). From the nine alternatives served on 4” round soft tortillas, I chose Slow Smoked Brisket with salsa verde, guacamole and pico de gallo; Seared Wild Caught Mahi Mahi with cucumber, kimchee sauce, guacamole and pico de gallo; Crispy Long Island Duck with mango glaze, guacamole and pico de gallo. Another treat was the Jarritos pineapple soda ($3.75).
. . .
Mazel tov to Rupert Murdoch, 92, who announced his impending marriage, his fifth. https://www.cnn.com/
He is aiming to have the same effect on the institution of marriage as he has had on journalism.
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
British crime dramas are my favorite genre for binge watching. Typically, as soon as we meet the lead detective, a white male, more often than not David Tennant, we encounter his Black and female colleagues. Conveniently, Cush Jumbo fills both roles economically. 
There are also instances where Helen Mirren, Gillian Anderson or Brenda Blethyn are in charge.
These familiar patterns are dramatically challenged by a new report on British police conduct, which, according to London’s mayor, “found institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia.”
According to an official government survey, "at 31 March 2021, White officers made up 92.4% of the workforce" of police officers in England and Wales. https://www.gov.uk/government/
Female police officers made up 32.4% of the total force, a higher number than I would have guessed. By contrast, 42.8% of uniformed police officers in the New York City Police Department are white and 81% male. https://app.powerbigov.us/
If you are willing to see (some) cops as human beings, I recommend "19-2," a Netflix series about the Montreal Police Department in Québécois French. There are no heroes, some villains.
. . .
R.I.P. Willis Reed
Wednesday, March 22, 2023
The food section of today’s New York Times has a long article and recipes about “party-cut, bar-style, tavern-style, Midwest thin crust or Chicago-thin” pizza as distinct from New York, Sicilian, New Haven or Chicago deep-dish pizza.
Not only does it differ in the depth and character of the crust, it is served in small squares, a legacy from its origins as bar food, a snack to keep you around drinking longer.
Here’s my pizza story. In 1976, I decided to attend my cousin Michael’s wedding in New Jersey, coming from Los Angeles. My Original Wife and her brother thought we should cross the country by train. In many ways, it was among the very worst few days of my life. The ride was about 60 hours, changing trains in Chicago. Sleeping accommodations were available for only a short part of the trip.
Our marriage was at a low ebb and never got better. We bickered and pouted much of the time. The rare pleasure that I experienced was pizza. Several years before, I had been hired as a computer programmer trainee and sent to Chicago from New York for four weeks of classes. I went to Pizzeria Uno, its deep dish pizza still a local Chicago phenomenon, a few times with delight. So, in the west-to-east layover on the train ride, we took a cab to Pizzeria Uno for a good meal. On the return trip, we picked up two uncooked pizzas, had them stored in the refrigerator of the dining car and ate them back home in our love/hate nest.
Michael and his lovely wife Geri remain happily married for over 46-1/2 years, with oodles of grandchildren, while I fondly recall the pizza.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Statement never uttered by a 16-year old on Pitkin Avenue in Brooklyn: “I tried to charter a helicopter from New York to Maryland on my dad’s credit card because I wanted to have dinner with my camp friend.” https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/
. . .
The National Audubon Society is
facing a very 21st century controversy. While its namesake John James
Audubon (1785-1851) is renowned for his paintings of hundreds of
American birds and his discovery of new species, he was also a
slaveholder. After an eight-month assessment, the society decided not
to change its name, resulting in the resignation of three board members
and several local chapters changing their name.
You
may fault me, but I distinguish the Washingtons, Jeffersons and
Audobons from the Confederate traitors who were memorialized as and by
white supremacists. The latter were honored with statues, schools and
highways only because they fought to keep human beings enslaved.
I
have the example of Stuyvesant High School, which I was so proud to
attend while it seemed intent in forgetting that I ever attended.
Stuyvesant, of course, was named for Peter Stuyvesant (1592-1672), the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Netherland, who was a notorious anti-Semite. He described Jews as “the deceitful race” and “the hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ.”
He
vigorously opposed the admission of Jewish refugees from Recife,
fleeing Portuguese persecution. Fortunately, the authorities in
Amsterdam overruled him. What I loved was that the school named for a
Jew-hater was full of Jewish kids in my day. How could you mess with
that?
Friday, March 24, 2023
We visited Iceland in July, but we seemed to have missed one of its most distinguishing characteristics. It has more public toilets than anyplace in the world, 54 per 100,000 people.
https://www.qssupplies.co.uk/
https://www.qssupplies.co.uk/
The Holy Land notably fails in this regard, 4 per 100,000 people. Offering more relief than Mississippi or Louisiana is hardly an accomplishment.
