Saturday, December 28, 2024

Family Feast

Saturday, December 21, 2024
After a couple of days with Trump dominating the political scene, we are already missing Joe Biden.
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Today is Irit’s Birthday, the reason that we have come to the Boston suburbs. There was a wonderful party for her, although she baked her own birthday cake. Actually, she would have enjoyed the party less if she had not baked the cake.

Sunday, December 22, 2024
“The United States is home to by far the largest contingent of dollar millionaires: 22 million in 2023, representing 6.6 percent of the country's population.” 

Doesn’t that seem like an awful lot? My Brooklyn upbringing left me with mixed feelings about millionaires, resentment and envy. As far as I was concerned, there were no millionaires in Brooklyn. You would have to go to Manhattan or Connecticut to find them.

Define your terms. Clinically, it’s not such a big deal to be a millionaire anymore. While a study from Charles Schwab concludes “that Americans now think it takes an average of $2.5 million to be considered wealthy,” a net worth of $1 million technically puts you in the millionaire class. It did not necessarily require the sweat of your brow to get there either. Buy
an apartment on the upper West Side or a small house in Oakland, California early enough and sit still. 

Monday, December 23, 2024
Long ago, I acknowledged that I live to eat rather than eat to live, the equivalent of kissing your sister. But there is more to say about my eating or yours, for that matter. This test places you on the social hierarchy according to your interest in food. https://www.idrlabs.com/food-choice/test.php

The categories you may land in are Lower Class, Lower Middle Class, Middle Class, Upper Middle Class and Upper Class. I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours.

Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Did you suspect that the American public’s knowledge base has declined recently (cf. the 2024 presidential election)? Well, there were “almost three times as many removals [from school libraries] as during the previous school year,” thanks to the vigilance of some folks who are concerned about being the land of the free.

I found it interesting that, in May 2023, an Iowa law barred public K-12 schools from having books that depict sexual acts, with the exception of religious texts. Thank goodness, Iowa youth are able to learn how they did it in the good old days. After all, you don’t begat in a vacuum.

Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Santa Claus must know that I am Jewish, because for Christmas he gave me a cold.

Thursday, December 26, 2024
New York State has joined the dumb is enough club. In three years, the requirement of standardized testing (the Regents exams) for high school graduation will be eliminated. 

I find the politics of this interesting. This change began on the progressive left — an attempt to increase the equity of the public education system. To borrow a phrase, no child left behind. The results, however, will ultimately benefit the populist right, putting more ill-educated people out in a world that they are unprepared to deal with.
 
Friday, December 27, 2024
To celebrate Hanukkah and commemorate my wife’s and Uncle Stu’s parents, Aunt Judi hosted one of her celebrated dinners to a very large crowd. Judi and Stu are now great grandparents and grandparents and parents. With a couple of us stragglers, that put 19 people around the table, mostly full-sized adults. However, I had it on reach and was able to get more than my fair share of the good eats:
  • Challah, homemade, deserving its own line item
  • Chicken soup with matzoh balls
  • Coleslaw
  • Faro with roasted vegetables
  • Aunt Judi's Meatballs
  • Roast turkey (drumstick for me)
  • London broil (two actually, one rare, one medium)
  • Carrot ring
  • Potato latkes
  • Applesauce
  • Fruit salad
  • Pecan pie
  • Pumpkin pie
  • Chocolate chip cookies
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Saturday, December 21, 2024

Odds On

Saturday, December 14, 2024 
Before the pixels were even dry on last week’s blog, the real story about the closing of Absolute Bagels, 2788 Broadway, broke. https://patch.com/new-york/upper-west-side-nyc/absolute-bagels-was-absolutely-riddled-health-code-violations

As good as the bagels tasted, they likely had secret ingredients that were not part of your regular diet, provided by the rodents and vermin that frequented the premises.
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Sunday, December 15, 2024
If you are single, and everybody is for at least sometime in life, you may want surroundings that support your style of life. Proximity to a friendly pub might be more important than nearness to a petting zoo. This study “compared more than 180 U.S. cities across 35 key indicators of dating-friendliness.” https://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-cities-for-singles/9015

Atlanta came out on top, having “an extremely high number of attractions, restaurants and nightlife activities, giving people a wide variety of venues for dates.” There is also the remarkable statistic, to me, that over 69% of its population is single, not even the highest number, trailing Detroit, Burlington and Cleveland, among others. Las Vegas is the dubious choice for second place, “boasting some of the best and most diverse nightlife options in the country, along with an extremely high number of attractions and restaurants overall.” What I always noticed in Las Vegas was the pall of unsuccessful gamblers, watching their luck evaporate. Those woeful souls do not make for good company.
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On the other hand, madam and I provided good company for my brother at lunch in honor of his birthday. We met at Seasons 52, 217 Lafayette Avenue, Edison, New Jersey, an excellent example of what a suburban restaurant should be — large, friendly, lots of parking, combining the familiar with some innovative touches. Today, I regressed towards the mean in contrast to earlier visits and ordered half a rotisserie chicken, plump and juicy, with French  green beans, roasted cherry tomatoes and rice pilaf ($23.50). My bride had the very interesting Maui Crunch Salad, seared tuna, organic greens, mango, almonds, wood-grilled red peppers and toasted sesame dressing ($21.50). My brother had the hearty wood-grilled Kona crusted lamb loin with broccolini and mashed Yukon potatoes ($32.50).

Monday, December 16, 2024
Mazel tov to Jessica and Tavish upon their marriage high on a mountain in Colorado.
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I am a Zionist, a supporter of the State of Israel, but not a supporter of its present regime, which, at times, seems to be perpetuating violence for its own sake. These two headings appeared on CNN.com this afternoon not far apart:

•Israeli strike kills Al Jazeera photojournalist on one year anniversary of colleague’s death
•Palestinian grandfather whose tribute to slain granddaughter went viral is killed by Israeli fire in Gaza

War is hell, chaotic and unpredictable. That’s why you seek peace.
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About one-third of Americans rent their primary residence. That might be okay except that the financial gap between renters and owners is so large, renters have less than 3% of the wealth of homeowners, making up the difference is often impossible. https://www.aspeninstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/ASAPN0431-From-Rent-to-Riches-Report-241113-WEB.pdf

Tuesday, December 17, 2024
I saw another neurologist today and found that I don’t have what they thought I had, but they don’t quite know what I have and they don’t expect it to go away.
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Tom and Kim joined us at Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, 47-49 East 65th Street, to hear Rachel Maddow, television host and author, and Steve Benin, television producer and author, discussing “What Next for America: Assessing the 2024 Presidential Election and the Threat to American Democracy.” In sum, it’ll get worse before it gets better.

Speaking of MSNBC, my version of post partum election depression has included almost total withdrawal from watching MSNBC since the election. In the same vein, I have stopped watching New York Ranger games. 

Wednesday, December 18, 2024
The word from Washington is that the next head of the National Weather Service will be Stormy Daniels.
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Evidence of at least a partially descended testicle:

"Matt Gaetz Ethics Report to Be Released After House Panel’s Secret Vote"  
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A couple of weeks ago, I closed the door on reporting end-of-the-year best of lists. They may be fun, but they have a very brief shelf life. However, this compilation is a little out of the ordinary. What books did New Yorkers take out of the library. https://www.nypl.org/blog/2024/12/18/top-checkouts-nyc-boroughs

I learned that Freida McFadden, very big on Staten Island, but previously unknown to me, is the pen name of an American thriller author and practicing physician specializing in brain injury, according to Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freida_McFadden

Remarkably, she has produced, on the average, one book every 5-1/2 months over 12 years. Make that Amazingly.

Thursday, December 19, 2024
I’m a sports fan, but not a fan of sports betting with its potential for massive corruption, a prospect that the industry fails to acknowledge. “Bill Miller, the president of the A.G.A. [the American Gaming Association, the industry’s trade organization], said last week during a meeting of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States that he expected the industry would be under less scrutiny from the federal government in the coming years. ‘We have a Republican president, Republican Senate and Republican House,’ he said. ‘And so what does that mean for the gaming industry? It means probably less pressure.’
Friday, December 20, 2024
The Upper West Side’s Power Couple headed off into the sunrise to visit the second and third generations in Eastern Massachusetts. Festivities shall abound. However, jackknifed tractor trailers on the Massachusetts Turnpike turned the normal 4-1/2 hour trip (including lunch) into a 7 hour ordeal.
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How about Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis? Given a case of historic  proportions and flushing it down the toilet by failing to curb adolescent passions.
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Saturday, December 14, 2024

What's Up, Doc?

Saturday, December 7, 2024
Andy would have been 80 today.
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Can anybody tell me who are the good guys in the Syrian civil war?
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/06/middleeast/syria-hts-al-jolani-profile-intl?cid=ios_app
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Main Street is the most popular address in the United States. Oddly, the next few in order are Second, Third, First.

Similarly, Second Avenue is more common than First Avenue.
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I hope that you have a friend as kind and thoughtful as Anne Williams.

Sunday, December 8, 2024
A little good news, a little bad news. About 1 in 5 local apartment rental listings offered some concessions. Citywide, median asking rent increased to $3,676. A little more good news, a little more bad news. The inventory of available apartments rose in Brooklyn and Queens, while it shrank in Manhattan.
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The phrase “knowledge is power” has distinguished origins. It is attributed to Sir Francis Bacon as recorded by Thomas Hobbes. 

I’m not sure if it was ever true, but, these days, the opposite really seems to prevail. Power is knowledge. “Get out of my way. I’ll tell you what’s true.”

Monday, December 9, 2024
We have admittedly been focused on local real estate prices, but we are not alone in facing steep inflation in property values. In England now, average homes are beyond the reach of most people.

The article speaks of “Britain’s broken housing market” where the average home price was £298,000 last year, that is $380,315 in real money. On the other hand, last week we learned that the least expensive domestic Zip code, Benton County, Arkansas, had a median home price of $408,403. Hmm.
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You might think that 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. 1) Samuel Fuchs was my companion for the evening. His service as a naval officer at sea offers me a perspective that is otherwise absent from my circle of friends and colleagues. 2) We ate at bb.q Chicken, 25 West 32nd Street, that very reliable server of Korean fried chicken. I had a box of boneless classic recipe, nine crispy, crunchy pieces ($15.99). 3) The Rangers lost.

Tuesday, December 10, 2024
Listening to the discussions about the Daniel Penny verdict, the white ex-Marine who choked the deranged Black homeless man on the subway, brings back O.J. Simpson in reverse.
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I had lunch at Pastrami Queen, 138 West 72nd Street, with Art Spar, neighborhood poet laureate. Not as hungry as I normally am, I passed on the Tuesday Special, pastrami and corned beef each on a dinner roll, French fries, coleslaw and a pickle for $19.95 and had the Lunch Special, a bowl of matzoh ball soup and half a roast beef sandwich ($23). In brief, Tuesday beats Lunch.

Wednesday, December 11, 2024
I had a video visit with my neurosurgeon this morning to review last week’s hospital experience. And guess what? I’m healthy, at least to the degree of not having what they thought that I had. Now, a new team of doctors is being gathered to plan an assault on Mount Gotthelf.
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“My whole life, I’ve been afraid of being broke,” thus spake Richard L. Zeitlin in federal court yesterday at his sentencing hearing. He was sufficiently motivated by his fear that he pocketed at least 80% of the more than $145 million that he raised in bogus charity appeals.

Thursday, December 12, 2024
Temple Emanu-El is the largest Jewish congregation in the world. Appropriately, it operates the Streicker Cultural Center, 10 East 66th Street, which offers an extensive and sophisticated array of programs of Jewish and general public interest. Tonight, I went there to see a new documentary, “Torn: The Israeli-Palestine Poster War On NYC Streets.”

Soon after October 7th, photographs of the hostages taken by Hamas appeared on walls, windows and lampposts in many local neighborhoods. 


Vandals? Freedom fighters? tore them down or painted them over in response. The film is very powerful, portraying the passionate and deep divisions that attend the conflict. A discussion followed, including the two Israeli street artists who created the original posters and the filmmaker. 97 hostages remain in Gaza, alive and dead. 

Friday, December 13, 2024
Big brother’s birthday.
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Absolute Bagel, 2788 Broadway, considered by many to have the Holy Land’s best bagels, closed yesterday preemptively, with no explanation. 

I believe that they are one of the three best bagel shops, along with Zucker’s Bagels & Smoked Fish, 273 Columbus Avenue and other locations, and Utopia Bagels, 120 East 34th Street and 1909 Utopia Parkway, Whitestone. I can only hope that they reopen closer to Palazzo di Gotthelf. 
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