Saturday, March 28, 2026
I confess that I really like the Rocky Horror Picture Show and Little Shop of Horrors and have seen each of them multiple times. That sets the stage, so to speak, for my enjoyment of Bigfoot!, a new musical, much of it the work of comedian Amber Ruffin. If you are pained by reading the front section of the New York Times, go see what it called the “show with ecstatically silly punchlines and physical gags.”
. . .
If Muddirt, Bigfoot’s hometown, doesn’t appeal to you, you can choose among America’s healthiest cities and avoid the unhealthiest. That would allegedly be San Francisco, Honolulu and Seattle on one end and Shreveport, Louisiana, Gulfport, Mississippi, and Brownsville, Texas on the other.
Sunday, March 29, 2026
It’s no secret that I go out to eat a lot. It’s not that our larder is bare or that America’s Favorite Epidemiologist is unable to serve a first-class meal. From boyhood, I liked the commotion in a restaurant and the foods that I was unlikely to get in a traditional Jewish household. This survey looks at the cost of dining in the larger American cities.
While not perfectly identical, the expensive cities are often the healthiest, as identified above.
. . .
When I read these two sentences below my jaw dropped. They capture our national character in a brief, brilliant fashion.
America does not know how to exist in a world it does not control. Since its inception, America has assured itself it was simply too big, too far away and too richly endowed to suffer any serious consequences for its actions.
. . .
Barbara and Bernie, cousins of cousins, joined us for dinner at Miriam’s, 973 Lexington Avenue, its third site. They had just come in from their home in Palm Desert, California, where it was 102°. We offered a cool alternative.
The restaurant is narrow, just one storefront wide. We sat toward the front, opposite a full bar. The menu is Mediterranean with an Israeli tinge. We shared two appetizers, spanakopita, spinach pie presented in a spiral rather than the traditional wedge or rectangular shape ($17.50); and pistachio-crusted goat cheese crostini with toasted za'atar pita, Fresno chili, fire-roasted peppers, truffle oil, honey vinaigrette, absolutely delicious ($14.50). Bernie had a large piece of chicken schnitzel with mashed potatoes ($27.50) while I had three Middle Eastern pomegranate meatballs with mashed potatoes ($27.50). The women shared pistachio pesto pasta, leaving enough for me too ($23.50).
We also shared two desserts, burnt cheesecake with white wine-braised grapes ($13) and Bambousa, semolina cake with orange syrup, whipped cream and a chocolate disc ($13). It might go without saying, but a good time was had by all.
Monday, March 30, 2026
I had a new doctor today who thought that I was peachy keen.
. . .
Sacre bleu!
“Air Canada CEO to step down after backlash over his English-only crash message."
. . .
The New York Times reports on a number of instances where senior Democratic elected officials are being challenged by young opponents, claiming a need for fresh blood. However, from my superannuated perch, I cannot help but point to the value of tested experience in these difficult times.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
The Upper West Side’s Power Couple took to the highway to Eastern Massachusetts having heard that Natick, Massachusetts is a good jumping off point for the Sinai Desert. We arrived in time to enjoy Irit’s fabulous pre-Passover chocolate-peanut butter mousse pie and wish David Happy Birthday.
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
America’s Loveliest Nephrologist arrived in the early morning hours and rested enough to join us for a late breakfast at J&M Diner, 50 Worcester Road, Framingham, an institution that really gets breakfast right. I had the best waffle that I ever had, with soft scrambled eggs, crisp bacon and Vermont maple syrup ($15). I drank a tall glass of cold brew iced coffee ($5.25). The young doctor had an egg, cheese and tomato sandwich on a toasted English muffin with a side salad in a lemon white balsamic vinaigrette dressing ($12) while Big Mama had a vegetable Benedict, two poached eggs over spinach on an English muffin with a side fruit cup ($15.50).
. . .
Tonight, we took our first steps towards the Promised Land fleeing slavery and oppression, under David's learned direction.
Thursday, April 2, 2026
A federal judge has ruled that the University of Pennsylvania must comply with the Trump administration’s order to provide the government with a list of its Jewish employees.
The honorable response is to provide a list of all university employees. “I am Spartacus!”
. . .
Meanwhile, Syracuse University is closing or pausing 93 of its 460 academic programs in order to create a university that would be “more focused, more distinctive and more aligned with student demand.”
Friday, April 3, 2026
Two numbers are important part of the Exodus story, the original, not the Leon Uris version. The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians for 400 years until Charlton Heston led them to freedom. However, it took 40 years wandering in the desert before they reached the Promised Land, actually few of the actual escapees living to see it.
I am skeptical about these measurements of time. While calendars date from 3000 BCE or so (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
So, I think the 400 supposed years of bondage really meant just a long time. As to the 40-year trek, biblical scholars and modern geographers agree that spending 40 years in Sinai could only result from going around in circles. Not all of us have a good sense of direction. Thinking of couples I know, I think this is where opposites attract. If the Israelites indeed spent 40 years in the desert, I am certain that half the time they stood around bickering.
