Saturday, January 25, 2025
I was shocked to read
this in an article in The New Yorker
profiling the current British Foreign Secretary: “In 1997, the U.K.’s G.D.P. was greater than China’s and
India’s combined. Now, together, their economies are seven times
larger.” [Punctuation slightly altered.]
. . .
Did you hear the one about the guy who joined the Navy and went out to sea for years and came back to visit the old neighborhood and went into the dry cleaners and jokingly asked about the pants that he left off before enlisting and the man behind the counter said, “Next Tuesday”?
If we are patient, they may all go away.
Well, when we came home from shul today, hanging on the doorknob of the entrance to Palazzo di Gotthelf was the pair of blue pants that were never returned to me from the dry cleaners a year ago.
. . .
12 years ago, I wrote about David Chan, a Los Angeles lawyer, who claimed to have eaten in 6,297 Chinese restaurants throughout the United States, as well as abroad, in his lifetime. http://www.latimes.
Back then (April 23, 2013), I had documented 250 of my weekday lunches in Chinatown over three plus years. Because of our different foci, I bore David no ill will. Now, he has popped up again, upping his tally to “nearly 8,000 Chinese restaurants.”
Again, I respect his accomplishment and his digestive tract.
Sunday, January 26, 2025
“At the top 15 business schools, the share of students in 2024 who sought and accepted a job offer within three months of graduating, a standard measure of career outcomes, fell by six percentage points, to 84%.”
Monday, January 27, 2025
“Jews were the target of the majority of hate crimes in New York City last year, according to statistics reported Monday [January 6th] by the NYPD."
. . .
The Upper West Side’s Power Couple is planning a short vacation with a tour group in mid-March. The center of activity will be Albuquerque, New America.
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
We went to a panel discussion on antisemitism at CUNY (City University of New York). I am a graduate of CCNY, its flagship institution. Way back then, about 60% of the collective student body was Jewish, today the estimate is 10% and many of them feel besieged.
Not unlike the woeful performance of the hoity-toity university presidents before Congress last Fall, CUNY’s Chancellor embarrassed himself in an appearance before the New York City Council investigating antisemitism. Jews on campus seem to be viewed as unworthy of regard or protection. As Jews, they are being held responsible for many of the sins of Western civilization, although, for centuries, they were kept on its margins, if not under its heel.
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
David Chan’s formidable record of eating at nearly 8,000 Chinese restaurants was probably satisfying on the whole. On the other hand, I have just learned of an exploit that hovers between the inane and the insane. A man visited 42 London museums in under 12 hours. https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/
Other than surprise at the number of London museums, I find no reason to take notice of this event. I have my own approach to visiting museums, near and far. Concentrate on the gift shops. The artworks are likely to be around for a long time, but hot items in the gift shop may not be replenished.
. . .
Dedicated multiculturalists, Gentleman Jerry and I welcomed the Year of the Snake, the Chinese New Year, at Westland Roe, 174 West 72nd Street, a new Irishish pub. The name is a tribute to Westland Row, a street in Dublin. The large space was empty at lunchtime except for one man eating at the bar and the service was prompt and attentive. The menu had no surprises, although the "Smalls/Shares" were more diverse than the main courses. I ordered the fish and chips ($22), the portion of chips tastier and more generous than the fish. We were abstentious, although the bar had a large selection of beers and ales.
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Noted without comment. "Last Tuesday—on his second day in office—Trump fired the entire
membership of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee as part of his
demolition of the Department of Homeland Security." https://open.substack.com/pub/
. . .
The Utah Hockey Club is the newest member of the National Hockey League, actually a reincarnation of the Arizona Coyotes. It is in its first year of play and bears a purely generic team name. Ownership has announced a contest for popular choice of the team's name; the choices: Utah Mammoth, Utah Wasatch (later replaced by the Utah Outlaws) or Utah Hockey Club. None of them grabs me, but I am really interested in the singularity of the names.
I root for the Mets, the Rangers and the Giants; I root against the Braves, the Islanders and the Cowboys. That was the natural order of the universe (excluding professional soccer in Latin America and Europe, who have their own universe). Then, the National Basketball Association introduced the Miami Heat, the Orlando Magic, the Utah Jazz (an insult to common sense) and the Oklahoma City Thunder. And, there appears to be no turning back. The Women's National Basketball Association has burdened us with, among others, the Atlanta Dream, the Chicago Sky and the Indiana Fever, while the recently-formed Professional Women's Hockey League contains, among others, the Minnesota Frost, the Boston Fleet and the Ottawa Charge. These names are basically uncheerable.
Friday, January 31, 2025
We have had the pleasure of the company of #1 Grandson Boaz overnight. Today, we all had lunch at Abaita, 145 East 49th Street, a Kosher, dairy, Italian restaurant. Kosher cuisine, according to Jewish dietary rules, is basically divided between meat and dairy foods, separated in preparation and serving. This is rooted in the biblical injunction "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk," repeated three times in the Bible (Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21), an emphasis connoting importance, but otherwise unexplained. This simple statement has given rise to an industry of interpretation and prohibitions. Along the way, the rabbis came up with a neutral category, pareve or parve, such as fruits and vegetables, allowed with either category. An Italian restaurant featuring fish, pasta, vegetables, cheese and grains, eschewing meat, may, therefore, be perfectly Kosher.
Abaita, home in Hebrew, is relatively small, crowded at lunchtime. It is unique; the small number of Manhattan Kosher restaurants almost all serve meat, steakhouses or delicatessens. It has an open kitchen, bordered by a counter with ten stools, with a wood-fired pizza oven. Service was earnest, but occasionally rusty. The quality of the food was high as were the prices. I had four cigar-shaped cod croquettes, nicely fried with tasty little dabs of cumin aioli on the side ($23), followed by risotto ($29) in a too small portion. The customers, many showing signs of their observance, were content.
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