Saturday, April 6, 2024
If you happen to be roaming around Halifax, Nova Scotia, you might wind up in the suburban community of Porters Lake. Then, watch out for this bit of local geography. 
. . .
Matt Katz is a talented reporter and author. He is the son of our neighbors Roberta and Richard Katz, actually from Roberta’s first marriage then adopted by Richard when Matt was very young. As an adult, Matt sought more information about his birth father who had disappeared from his life.
“Inconceivable Truth” is his wonderful podcast about the search. We have listened to the first two episodes, increasingly fascinated with his findings. Try it. https://podcasts.apple.
Sunday, April 7, 2024
It is rare for a grandparent to ignore the accomplishments of grandchildren. Today, we had the opportunity to qvell at a performance by 16-year old Boaz at Carnegie Hall. He is a member of HaZamir: The International Jewish Teen Choir, consisting of 250 kids, but he still stood out not only in his grandparents’ eyes, but as the tallest kid on stage. Look in the center of the back row.
Before the performance, much of the family met for lunch at Wagamama, 100 West 55th Street, two blocks from Carnegie Hall. We first encountered this international pan-Asian chain in London and later followed it to Boston and Manhattan.
I had the very good Grilled Duck Ramen, “crispy duck leg, rich vegetable broth, cilantro + ponzu sauce, bok choy, chilies, scallions, half a tea-stained egg” and noodles, of course ($25).
We were still early, so we sat in a plaza in front of the restaurant, enjoying rare sunshine. I was fortunate to fall into conversation with a charming young man on the bench next to me. Dr. A. Abomelha, from Saudi Arabia, is doing a residency in orthodontics in Florida and taking a well-deserved break here.
He is enthusiastic about the progress his country has made into modernity, especially for his female relatives. He has a sister who is a lawyer, exercising privileges denied to women not long ago. He deduced that I was Jewish, but we stayed away from geopolitics.
The concert was a smashing success, greeted boisterously by the audience. What else would you expect from the parents, stepparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings of hundreds of Jewish kids?
Monday, April 8, 2024
It might not amount to binge watching, but we watched eight episodes of “Ripley” on Netflix from its release on Thursday through tonight. It’s an adaptation of “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” a novel by the insistently antisemitic and extremely skillful Patricia Highsmith.
Watch it. The story is not only marvelously nasty, the photography is brilliant. The settings are beautiful — the Amalfi Coast, Rome, Palermo and Venice — all done in razor-sharp black and white.
. . .
Speaking of Black and white, to test discriminatory employment practices, 97 of the country’s largest companies were sent 80,000 phony résumés for 10,000 jobs from 2019 to 2021. The faux applicants were similarly qualified, but were given names to suggest that they were white or Black, and male or female. On average, employers contacted the presumed white applicants 9.5 percent more often than the presumed Black applicants, although there were significant industry differences.
Chief Justice John Roberts, from his lofty perch, has the solution; “the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”
PICS v. Seattle School District No. 1, 551 U.S. 701 (2007).
Hop to it.
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
I waited months for the opening of DiDi’s Dumplings, 201 Amsterdam Avenue, directly across the moat from Palazzo di Gotthelf. I was an early customer on August 15, 2002 and returned a couple of weeks later to confirm my disappointment. The menu was very limited and not particularly well executed. It closed early last year, but quietly EA Dumpling has taken over the premises.
It’s a tiny place, basically a takeout joint with three small tables and six chairs for in-house dining. I had spicy wontons (6 pieces $7.95) and curry chicken potstickers (6 pieces $7.95). Other available dishes were soup dumplings, noodle soups and boiled dumplings. If EA is to avoid DiDi’s fate, the menu has to grow.
While the counterman’s English is far better than my Mandarin, I suggest using the touchscreen ordering mechanism to avoid confusion.
Thursday, April 11, 2024
John McWhorter, a linguist at Columbia University, today riffs on a subject that also annoys me — standing ovations. Unless the theater burns down, every live performance seems to get a standing ovation when the curtain falls these days.
He writes: “Now the standing ovation is simply a sign of approval.” I’ll go further, more often it is simply a sign of survival. Worse is the standing ovation that Stephen Colbert gets every night as soon as he sets foot on the stage of his television show and he is not the only one. I understand “Happy to see you,” but orgasmic frenzy cannot be, should not be, an everyday occurrence. Save it for the real thing.
. . .
The Upper West Side’s Power Couple drove up to Eastern Massachusetts this afternoon for a long weekend of babysitting. The odds favor the babies 3 to 2.
Friday, April 12, 2024
“Cornel West and running mate Melina Abdullah refuse to condemn Hamas’ actions in first joint TV interview”
Well, that opens two seats at our Seder table.
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