Hip Hugger

Saturday, June 17, 2023

Today is America's Favorite Epidemiologist's birthday, a number that her appearance, energy and creativity thoroughly belie.  I participated in the festivities by staying awake a few hours.

. . . 

 

Late last year, there was the sad news that Ample Hills Creamery, producer of superior ice cream, was shutting down its 12 shops and production facility, victim of undisciplined expansion.  Now, there seems to be movement back to the good times.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/16/dining/ample-hills-creamery-brooklyn.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

 

I can only hope that my recovery parallels theirs and I can again enjoy Ooey Gooey Butter Cake, Barclays Gridlock (coffee ice cream with chocolate flakes, salted peanuts, fudge brownies and chocolate covered pretzels) and Caught In The Rain (piña colada sorbet, organic pineapple juice, organic coconut milk, and just a splash of rum).  

 

Sunday, June 18, 2023

In time for Pride Month, the all-Muslim city council of Hamtramck, Michigan just banned Pride flags from being flown on city property.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/17/hamtramck-michigan-muslim-council-lgbtq-pride-flags-banned

 

They were likely getting back at the Jews.

. . .

 

In my long adult life, I have lived in two places — the Holy Land and La La Land.  The three years that I spent in graduate school are excluded, because I had not yet arrived at adulthood.  Most of the time, I was a renter, yet I was particularly interested in this study of the economics of home ownership.   

https://www.chamberofcommerce.org/cities-with-the-most-house-poor-homeowners/

 

The rule of thumb that housing-related costs should not exceed 30% of one’s income is often violated throughout the country, but most evidently in Miami, Los Angeles and New York.  While this fuels our homelessness crisis, it puts so many other people, working, paying bills, a narrow step away from losing shelter.  While I have faced some tough times through the years, I have never faced sleeping on a sofa on the sidewalk or in a broken-down SUV parked at the curb, thank goodness.

 

In spite of our gloomy predicament with homelessness, the United States somehow shines in this worldwide look at housing affordability.  

https://www.comparethemarket.com.au/home-contents-insurance/features/global-cost-of-property/

 

Typical high incomes offset high purchase prices to place us behind only Turkey.  On the other end, South Korea and Israel are the least affordable.  Of course, certain California and New York Zip Codes would probably turn the chart upside down, resembling what so many people actually face.

. . .

 

The kindness and generosity of family and friends continue and I am almost getting used to being infirm.  Andrea and Nate dropped off Ghirardelli chocolates as they stopped in New York on their way to France.  And David Prager, no doubt aided by Sarah, dug into the vault to give me precious memorabilia related to Gil Hodges.

 

Monday, June 19, 2023

If you consider yourself a student of Americana, you might try to match each state with CNN’s pick of its favorite food.  

https://bit.ly/3NBZeZf

 

The few selections that I made seemed reasonable, but I lacked the energy to run the table.

. . .

 

One Brooklyn landlord made his negative food choices well known in listing two apartments for rent last week.  The landlord, a vegan, banned the cooking of meat or fish on the premises.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/nyregion/vegan-tenants-landlord-ny.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

 

The objection seemed to be olfactory not philosophical, because there was no ban on consuming meat or fish, just cooking it.  Legal?  Apparently so.

 

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Stop the presses!  "Hunter Biden to Plead Guilty on Misdemeanor Tax Charges."  Can the Republicans get back to work now?  You know, patrolling bathrooms.

. . .

 

The New York Times asked a bunch of columnists to identify "the one piece of culture [that] captures the true spirit of our country."  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/06/20/opinion/nyt-columnists- culture.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

 

I don't think that anybody came close, in my opinion, but the subject is very much a moving target.  My own choice goes back in time to what was once "true" and should have remained so -- "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), winner of seven Academy Awards, and the highest grossing film in the United States and the United Kingdom at the time after the release of "Gone With the Wind."  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_Years_of_Our_Lives

 

The story involves three American servicemen returning from WWII to their small town in the Midwest.  They came from different backgrounds and the war has had a shuffling effect, at least temporarily.  The Air Force Captain, a bomber pilot, was a soda jerk, while the Army infantryman was a banker.  Here is a collection of reviews, if you are not familiar with the work.  https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/best_years_of_our_lives/reviews

 

There was no romance surrounding their service; the third man, a Navy petty officer, once a local athletic hero, lost both his hands in combat.  The plot deals with their attempts to readjust to the world they left and adjust to the new post-war world.  It's not easy, but you are left with the feeling that things will be better, fairer, kinder, an optimism that I don't usually express.  In 1946, it seemed possible, but that was a long time ago.

 

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

The United States Supreme Court, returned from fishing and hunting expeditions, is poised to trash affirmative action in college admissions.  It is a challenging subject, but this Federalist Society court will probably rush to the defense of beleagured white students whose hegemony on school lacrosse, waterpolo and ice hockey teams is threatened.

 

Here is a group of datapoints that illuminate/obfuscate the issue, all from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/us/affirmative-action-student-experiences.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.  "58 percent of Asian American test-takers and 31 percent of white test-takers scored a 1200 or higher on the SAT in 2022, according to the College Board, which runs the exam.  For Hispanic and Black students, those numbers were 12 percent and 8 percent."  Public school districts serving mostly white students receive $2,200 more per student in government funding.  Half of all K-12 students in the country are in districts that are more than 75% white or more than 75% non-white.

 

It's not all race; money talks.  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/03/rich-students-get-better-sat-scores-heres-why.html 

 

Thursday, June 22, 2023

It’s been two weeks since my surgery and I keep thinking about Chester from “Gunsmoke.”

 

Friday, June 23, 2023 

CNN thinks that there are still liveable places around the world.  https://www.cnn.com/travel/worlds-most-liveable-cities-2023

 

Hip, Hip Hooray

Saturday, June 10, 2023 

I returned to Palazzo di Gotthelf today, with a walker and some of the Sackler family's finest products.  Awaiting me was a two pound tin of David's Cookies, generously contributed by my brother, four varieties, chocolate chip, double chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip and walnut chocolate chip.  I am uncertain as to whether I will share these beyond America's Favorite Epidemiologist who has a natural claim to them, as well as any other item acquired after May 25, 2003, although her interest in cookies has never approached my own [sigh of relief].

. . .

Speaking of love and marriage, the pandemic not only kept people out of offices, it kept them out of singles' bars and hot tubs, resulting in fewer romances, liaisons and hook-ups.  Thus, sales of engagement rings were down, probably with other elements of the bridal-industrial complex.  https://signetjewelers.com/investors/financial-news-releases/financial-news-release/2023/SIGNET-JEWELERS-REPORTS-  

 

Sunday, June 11, 2023

The business and science pages of the newspaper seem to be preoccupied with the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI).  Maybe getting accustomed to the use of a walker has made me more appreciative of having a firm footing before moving forward.  Therefore, I am much more concerned about the preponderance of Real Ignorance (RI) in our society today.

Monday, June 12, 2023

I can't ignore the pain and inconvenience associated with my hip replacement surgery and recuperation, but need the New York Mets lose five of their last six games when I can only provide underpowered support?

. . .

Catching up with my reading, I spent too much time with an article in The New Yorker about the proliferation of Marvel Comics superheroes in the movies.  I was intrigued by the epiphany experienced by one of the key movie makers: “He worked for consulting firms, but after his sister died, of lupus, he realized that ‘life is precious’ and moved to Hollywood,” where nothing is apparently more precious.

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

"Southern Baptists Move to Purge Churches With Female Pastors"  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/us/southern-baptist-movement-women-pastors.html

 

This may surprise some of you, but there are even Orthodox synagogues with women clergy.  "Around 87 women rabbis are associated with Orthodox Judaism worldwide."  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_rabbis_and_Torah_scholars#cite_ref-nishmat100_115-0

 

Now, if that doesn't make Southern Baptists woke, I don't know what will.

. . .

I have been very heartened by the amount of attention and concern forthcoming from so many of you on three continents.  It’s encouraging to be regarded even when in such a diminished state.  Additionally, there have been some material offerings worth noting.  A Junior’s cheesecake sits in the freezer next to the tin of David’s Cookies, awaiting the return of my appetite, although it (my appetite) is such a large thing, it’s hard to imagine it being misplaced.  

Fortunately, some taste for the good life remains and I didn’t hesitate devouring the two pieces of fried gefilte fish that Joan E. brought directly from Dovid’s Fresh Fish Market, 736 Chestnut Avenue, Teaneck.  Bless that woman.

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

In case you haven't chosen a Father's Day gift yet and, like me, you always seek that special something, consider a body part from the morgue at Harvard Medical School.

https://www.boston.com/news/crime/2023/06/14/harvard-medical-school-morgue-alleged-stolen-body-parts/

 

I wonder where my femur is tonight?

 

Thursday, June 15, 2023

I believe that the Chinese ignore our racial differences and consider us all White People, just as Latin American revolutionaries oppose Yankees, even when some of us are Mets fans.  Further, exposure to our lunchrooms and snack bars has produced a very unfavorable view of our cuisine, known as "báirén fàn” or “white people food”. 

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/jun/15/lunch-of-suffering-plain-white-people-food-goes-viral-in-china

 

Our search for naturalness and farm-to-table simplicity has produced the "lunch of suffering."  Under these circumstances, the French would be excused from being White People.

Only When I Laugh

June 3, 2023

This story, unfortunately, has become an annual event.  "Stuyvesant High School Admitted 762 New Students. Only 7 Are Black.”  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/02/nyregion/stuyvesant-high-school-black-students.html?smid=nytcore-android-share 

Last week, 762 students were offered admission to Stuyvesant, attended by both my brother and myself in the 1950s.  According to the Department of Education, 489 are Asian, 158 white, 20 Latinx, 7 Black, 36 multiracial and 51 unknown.  If anything, this is worse than last year, if we seek greater diversity.  The recruiting of (some) minority students to formerly restricted private school premises may have some effect on the complexion of the Stuyvesant student body, but it doesn’t explain the gross racial disparity.  Most prospective reforms dabble with the admissions process, abandon the single admissions test, augment the test, allocate some seats outside the limits of the test.  Similar experiments at selective high schools in San Francisco, Boston and Alexandria, Virginia, have failed to achieve more equitable results.  

It’s the barrel, not the spigot that needs remaking.  Bring excellence to the first grade for all kids and aggressively educate the parents.  Supply ample carrots and sticks.

. . .

There are some hip parents out there, at least in Utah, where the King James version of the Bible has been removed from elementary and middle schools under state law banning “pornographic or indecent” books from schools.  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65794363?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

. . .

 

We had dinner with cousins Barbara and Bernie at Dagon, 2454 Broadway, our favorite restaurant of the Upper West Side, featuring Israeli, North African, and Mediterranean cuisine.  

Its selection of mezze are superb and we have become accustomed to concentrating on them.  We ordered every one on the menu, described as follows: Japanese Eggplant Confit, roasted garlic, tomato jam, buttermilk, shabazi breadcrumbs; Spicy Feta, harissa bbq, smoked salt; Sasso Chicken Liver Mousse, mustard seeds, date syrup, crispy shallots, baharat (Middle Eastern spice blend); Marinated Beets, horseradish yogurt, chickpeas, crispy beef tongue; Muhamarra, spicy roasted pepper & almond dip; Tahina, lemon, garlic, sesame ($47 for all 6, $12 individually) plus fresh herb falafel ($12).  A hot from the oven flatbread comes with that, but you have to get the Kubaneh, a pull-apart cheesy bread with labnah (cow’s milk yogurt cheese) on the side ($19).  That’s plenty of food of the highest quality.  However, Bernie and I plowed on, sharing chicken schnitzel, a favorite dish of mine ($28) and I was disappointed.  It was fried too long, dried out.  The small lump of excellent potato/cucumber salad couldn’t rescue it.  

Sunday, June 4, 2023

This is one list where I’m glad the Holy Land falls towards the bottom, postal workers bitten by dogs.   https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2023/0601-usps-releases-dog-bite-national-rankings.htm

. . .

Here’s a survey of 22,514 adults under the age of 75 in 30 countries taken earlier this year.  On average, 3% identified as lesbian or gay, 4% as bisexual, 1% as pansexual or omnisexual and 1% as asexual.  https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2023-05/Ipsos%20LGBT%2B%20Pride%202023%20Global%20Survey%20Report%20-%20rev.pdf

Collecting them as LGB+ amounted to 8% overall.  The differences country-to-country and generation-to-generation are especially interesting.  Brazil and Peru are at opposite ends of the list, yet they are physically adjacent.  Keep in mind that the surveyed population was self selected which compromises the representativeness of the responses.   

Monday, June 5, 2023

Speaking of gender, sex and identity, while most of us are concerned with death and taxes, Republicans in many parts of the country are obsessed with transexuality.  I'm happy that they have found a way to put aside the challenges associated with death and taxes, but their new obsession seems to be a strange choice.  Recent estimates vary, from "1.4 million adults identify as transgender in the United States" (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/transgender-population-by-state) to "1.6% of U.S. adults are transgender or nonbinary" (https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/06/07/about-5-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-say-their-gender-is-different-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/).   

There just aren't that many to go around.  Maybe that's why the threat posed by transexuals has to be wildly inflated, otherwise the politicians would have to go to work on real problems.

Tuesday, June 6, 2023

The Boyz Club celebrated the landing of Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy by eating lunch at Jing Fong, 202 Centre Street.  Covid closed its huge, festive quarters on Elizabeth Street, but the new location is comfortable and far less hectic at about one-tenth the size. 

As usual, I lost track of all the dishes that kept flying off the carts circling the room.  In sum, we six had 19 dishes, several duplicated.  Most items were cut into smaller pieces, so that all of us had many of many things to eat.  We spent $27 each, always including a generous gratuity, as we lingered for a long time even after our plates were clean.    

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Lunch today was less raucous, but thoroughly enjoyable in the company of cousins Gerri and Michael Goldenberg, visiting from their new home in Florida.  We met at Cafe Luxembourg, 200 West 70th Street, which has thrived by building a large outdoor section, designed to cope with weather fair and foul.  It has been around a long time, with a menu similar to a typical Parisian bistro, but with New York fine dining prices.

Actually, I stayed on this side of the Atlantic with my choice, a lobster roll with big chunks of tasty lobster ($41), accompanied by a large portion of thin French fries.  Otherwise, $23 was the price of choice for three-egg omelettes and Salade Niçoise.  Luxembourg dropped the ball, however, with dessert, an ice cream sandwich whose mint chocolate chip ice cream tasted like toothpaste ($12).

Thursday, June 8, 2023

I went for a slightly extravagant lunch yesterday, because today was very special -- hip replacement surgery.  I will be spending the night in the hospital, the first time since my birth way back in the last century.  Since I don't write with the lower half of my body, I suppose that I will have something to say tomorrow about the experience.

Saturday, June 10, 2023

I guess that I got lucky and spent two nights in the hospital.  This was not to maximize my comfort, just the opposite. Thursday night, once the anesthetic wore off, I was in great pain and was awake most of the time.  Friday, I was so tired that I rarely got out of bed and then, so awkwardly, that I increased my pain and discomfort.  I even had to forgo rescue by my young bride, because my mood was as black as my physical condition.  Which should explain the late appearance of these comments.

Mexican Matzah

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Oh, what a relief.  “The harassment of meteorologists by conspiracy theorists and climate deniers is not a phenomenon confined to Spain.” 

https://www.wral.com/story/murderers-and-criminals-meteorologists-face-unprecedented-harassment-from-conspiracy-theorists/20882684/

. . .

The beaches at Normandy, where hundreds of thousands of Allied troops landed during WWII, are one of France’s most popular tourist destinations.  We planned to visit on our recent trip, but met logistical difficulties.  We thought that going directly from Charles de Gaulle International Airport, the country’s largest, would be most efficient.  O les Américains naïfs.

The distance from the airport to Bayeux, a major transportation hub in the area, is 240 kilometers.  "The best way to get from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) to Bayeux is to train which takes 4h 5m.  Alternatively, you can bus, which takes 5h 20m, you could also fly, which takes 5h 23m."  [I edited out the prices.]

https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle-Airport-CDG/Bayeux-Normandy-France

All of these alternatives involve a change of vehicle.  By comparison, Albany, New York is 238 kilometers from LaGuardia Airport.  By plane it is 1 hour and 10 minutes away, non-stop; train takes 2 hours 30 minutes plus bus into Manhattan; bus takes 2 hours 45 minutes plus bus into Manhattan.

Just last week, a ban on short domestic flights for journeys that can be completed in two-and-a-half hours by train was signed into law in France.  That wouldn't get you any faster to Normandy, although there is much more to see there than in Albany.

Monday, May 29, 2023

We went to dinner at Taste of Everest, 102 Lexington Avenue, a restaurant that recognizes the geopolitical realities by combining Nepalese food with Indian and Chinese.  It has dark brown Naugahyde booths and dark brown tables and chairs.  Good lighting keeps it from being gloomy.  

The menu is relatively familiar, even with the mixture of cuisines.  We started with fried vegetable momos, Nepalese dumplings, 8 for $13.99, good filling in overly-fried wrappers.  I had Sherpa lamb curry, a generous portion made with freshly ground garlic, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and turmeric ($17.99).  Madame had Palak Paneer, homemade cheese in a very smooth gravy of spinach, ginger, cumin and fenugreek ($14.99).   

. . .

Speaking of multicultural cuisines:

Tuesday, May 29, 2023

The sign went up announcing the opening of Charles Pan-Fried Chicken at 146 West 72nd Street a full year before the event.  Then, I stayed away another year because there was nowhere to sit.  Today, finally, I went in and sat on one of the three stools at a counter to the left of the front door.

Pan-fried chicken is less crispy than deep-fried à la Popeyes.  I had the lunch special, 2 pieces, a side of baked macaroni and cheese and cornbread ($10.95).  The food was good, but the chicken pieces, a leg and a thigh, were tiny, I’m sorry to say.  I will return to see if I got the runt of the litter this time or if Charles choses to deflate his chickens rather than inflate his prices.

. . .

It’s become commonplace for the chatterati to claim that the country is tired of the prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch.  Yet each of them delivered on the promises that his party had been making fruitlessly for years.  Trump gave big tax cuts to the rich, lessened government regulations and got Roe v. Wade overturned.  Biden passed the first major infrastructure bill since Eisenhower built interstate highways, got $369 billion in funding to tackle climate change and signed the first significant gun safety bill in nearly 30 years.  These were partisan victories denied to their predecessors, yet their partisans are dissatisfied?  That’s gratitude for you.

 

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

“Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida kicked off his presidential campaign in Iowa on Tuesday with a sweeping denunciation of the ‘elites’ that he said dominated American institutions.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/us/politics/desantis-iowa.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

That certainly can’t be the Ronald DeSantis who graduated Yale University in 2001 and Harvard Law School in 2005.

. . .

The Educational Testing Service has announced substantial revisions to the Graduate Record Examination, once the standard test for admission to graduate school.  https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/31/us/gre-test-shorter-graduate-school.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

A rationale that was offered asserted that "These changes are intended to provide test takers with a better experience that values their time and reduces anxiety and fatigue."  Maybe I'm too cynical, but these soo-to-be college graduates need to learn, if they haven't already, that the world does not otherwise value their time nor concern itself with their anxiety and fatigue.  

Thursday, June 1, 2023

I spent a gratifying afternoon at Citi Field watching the Mets beat the Phillies 4-2.  For a time, all other concerns melted away. 

Friday, June 2, 2023

Generally, racism, sexism and anti-gay attitudes are more pronounced among older Americans.  https://news.osu.edu/older-people-are-more-prejudiced----and-they-cant-help-it/

However, I just came across a year-old survey of 3,500 U.S. adults by seemingly reputable political scientists that found "the epicenter of antisemitic attitudes is young adults on the far right," which comports with the images of the violent Charlottesville rally.     https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10659129221111081