NB - Delivery of last week's blog was fouled up in many cases. Apparently, mentioning Hamas and Khmer Rouge in the same sentence awakened the opposition. Sorry for the annoyance.
Saturday, October 26, 2024
While I have reasons to dislike both teams in the World Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees, they share one unique virtue. Unlike all the other baseball teams, they have no mascot, described by a radio announcer as “some dopey little guy in some costume.”
I make this profession in spite of the existence of a blurry photograph of Mr. Met and me taken at Shea Stadium very early in this century. It has been preserved by Lord Kennington, in attendance on the occasion of an effort to acclimate him to his surroundings in the former colonies.
. . .
I had lunch today with William Franklin Harrison, destined to be a future President of the United States. We went to Thai 72, 128 West 72nd Street. We shared chive pancakes (8 pieces for $12) and chicken satay with an excellent peanut sauce (3 skewers for $14). Chive pancakes, as they are called, are usually half-inch thick, spongey, dark green triangles, resembling door stops in an ogre’s dollhouse. I found two schools of thought, Korean (buchujeon) and Chinese (jiu cai he ze). Recipes are similar, yielding basically an omelettey pancake. However, presentation in small triangles seems to be a restaurant thing. When was the last time that you cut up a pancake into little pieces before serving to an adult?
Moving on, I had kao soy (“Northern-style noodle curry”), egg noodles, shallots, green apples and bean sprouts with beef, in a big soupy bowl of curry sauce ($18).
Sunday, October 27, 2024
The conflict is intensifying. Stony Brook Steve sends me this list of the city’s best bagels published by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, of all people.
It resembles the New York Times list from last week, still omitting my favorite, Zucker’s Smoked Fish & Bagels, 273 Columbus Avenue and a handful of other Manhattan locations. Maybe you should buy whitefish salad at Zucker’s and go somewhere else for a bagel. Meanwhile, I am sure that other parties are still to be heard from.
. . .
In New York City, the controversy is about how to get into high school (a single test for admission to a set of selective schools), while in Massachusetts it’s about how to get out.
Statewide, Massachusetts requires completion of standardized exams in English, math and the sciences to earn a high school diploma, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). More than 90% of students pass the tests on their first try. Do-overs are allowed. “Ultimately, just hundreds of students — among more than 65,000 test takers — are annually blocked from a diploma because they do not pass the MCAS. But some 85 percent are students with disabilities or new immigrants still learning English.”
Massachusetts voters now have a ballot measure that would eliminate MCAS as a graduation requirement. The teachers’ union, Elizabeth Warren and some other liberal politicians favor it, while the Democratic governor and the Boston Globe, the oldest and largest local newspaper, among others, oppose.
Vote No. Turning kids out pretending that they are equipped to handle the challenges of the everyday world is cynically unfair to them and society at large. Maybe alternate educational paths and measurements are needed for those truly marginalized. Invest more, the same approach that I advocate to improve the ethnic balance at Stuyvesant High School.
Monday, October 28,2024
What do New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and
In the rest of the good old USA, you get your ghost unannounced.
. . .
Speaking of spooky, according to the Census Bureau, the estimated median age of first marriage in 2022 was 28.2 years old for women and 30.1 years old for men, up from 1947’s 20.5 and 23.7.
At this rate, wheelchairs will be standard equipment at wedding processionals.
. . .
“The [Trump] plan for a rally at Madison Square Garden itself deliberately evoked its predecessor: a Nazi rally at the old Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939. About 18,000 people showed up for that ‘true Americanism’ event, held on a stage that featured a huge portrait of George Washington in his Continental Army uniform flanked by swastikas.” Heather Cox Richardson writes what so many of us have been thinking. Still undecided?
. . .
This afternoon I took a medical test you-shouldn’t-know-from. The results were good for me and, the best part, there is no follow-up, no more tests, no super-specialists, at least for one part of my larger-than-normal body.
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
Tonight, I went to Roosevelt House, 47-49 East 65th Street, once the home of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, now owned and operated by Hunter College as a meeting and conference center. Jonathan Alter, author of books about FDR, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, was discussing “American Reckoning: Inside Trump’s Trial — and My Own,” written after he attended every day of the “hush money” trial.
Alter sees no precedent in our history for Trump’s behavior. Nixon never got into court, for instance. The only other personal encounters with the criminal justice system that Alter found were a summons for Ulysses Grant for driving his buggy too fast and a ticket for Harry Truman for driving his car too slow.
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
My young bride took time off from making the world safe for epidemiology to take me to the theater tonight. We saw “The Hills of California,” the latest work by Jez Butterworth, author of “Jerusalem” and “The Ferryman,” two outstanding plays in my opinion. This wonderful work about a mother anxious for her daughters to succeed in show business has parallels to “Gypsy,” although everyone keeps her clothes on in public. Borrow the headsets, the accents are very thick.
Thursday, October 31, 2024
The New York Times analyzed the voter
registration records of more than 3.5 million Americans who moved since
the last presidential election.
The results belie expectations for a future of increased domestic tranquility. Republicans moved to neighborhoods Trump won by an average of 19 percentage points in 2020, while Democrats chose neighborhoods Biden won by the opposite margin (also 19 points). On the other hand, it might become easier to love thy neighbor.
Friday, November 1, 2024
David Prager, R.I.P.
. . .
I am sure that many of you are attentive newspaper readers, spending time with the New York Times in one form or another. So, you might have imagined that I dropped the ball when Wednesday came and went without me mentioning “The 25 Best Pizza Places In New York Right Now”
Actually, as soon as I saw the headline, I called Michael Ratner to make a lunch date, aiming at one of the listed joints. First, though, I announce my skepticism. None of my three favorite pizza places make the list:
- Don Antonio, 309 West 50th Street
- John’s of Bleecker Street, 278 Bleecker Street
- Zero Otto Nove Trattoria, 2357 Arthur Avenue, The Bronx
In fact, the cover of the section containing the article has the banner “New York’s Best Worthy of Debate.” With that in mind, we headed for the recommended Scarr's Pizza, 35 Orchard Street. It appeared to be almost three separate businesses. A crowd gathered on the sidewalk in front of a normal display of slices. Beyond that was a full bar with seating on stools. Further back was about a dozen two tops with waiter service. The little tables proved too small for the large pizza sparsely covered with chicken sausage ($34). The pizza itself was very good, not great, thin with a blistery crust. It filled us up to the point that we skipped trying Sam's Fried Ice Cream, 37B Orchard Street, a few feet away in spite of its intriguing name.
. . .
I am not asking for any sympathy as a pedantic retiree, but I want to make you aware of my current burden of responsibility. A few months ago, the New York Times published "57 Sandwiches That Defines New York City." Then, in the last couple of weeks, there have been two lists of the reputed 25 best local bagels. Now, we have supposedly the 25 best pizzas. With my duty to you and posterity to validate these assertions, I have very little opportunity to exercise free will. But, I will persevere.
I was very saddened to learn of David Prager’s passing. I think it was only last week that you included a link to his rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. He will be missed.
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