Saturday, October 22, 2022

Title Track

Saturday, October 15, 2022
The Upper West Side's Power Couple took off today to visit the second and third generations in Eastern Massachusetts.  Not only did we have the pleasure of their company, but they introduced us to a group of their friends at Amy and Ben's Sukkah in Newton, apparently the Great Neck of Boston.  That was my third Sukkah of the week, a new personal best.  The crowd, the food, the night was lovely.  Incidentally, the Green's chocolate babka that we brought from New York was voted best in show.

Sunday, October 16, 2022
Some more special treats today.  We met Pierluigi, an Italian attorney and law professor, who hosted a visit to Rome for Law Professor David and family earlier this year.  He is a delightful personality, currently teaching a course at Boston University Law School, and is up to date on American politics and culture.  He also has an accent that people would line up around the block to hear.

Pierluigi joined us as we wandered all over the Harvard University campus on this beautiful Fall day, where many students, bicycles, strollers and dogs could be seen.  But, there were no Frisbees anywhere.  It made me question Harvard's academic standing. 

As we walked around, I tediously repeated the disclaimer that I had never been on Harvard's grounds before.  Then, it came to me.  I attended an event in 1992 (but don't ask me what kind of event) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and one memory remains with me.  JFK, Jr. and I reached for the last hors d'oeuvre on a plate at the same time.  I hope that he got it.
. . .

If you finally roused the nerve to ask your brother-in-law to move out of your basement, here are some possible destinations for him based on the increase in rental units in recent years.

As you can see, none of the seven largest growing areas are within 650 miles of the Holy Land.  That should be far enough.

Monday, October 17, 2022
Before heading home, we had breakfast with 60% of our local clan at Tatte Bakery & Cafe, 165 Linden Street, Wellesley, the newest branch of a growing enterprise, 20 locations in Massachusetts and seven in and around Washington, DC.  I was impressed by how many people weren't working at 10 AM this morning, hanging out in the large, high-ceilinged, white space.  

I had the Breakfast Sandwich, fried eggs, Vermont cheddar cheese and applewood smoked bacon on "housemade" sourdough bread ($9.85).  It was a good sandwich, generously portioned, but the bread was toasted without asking me.  Stale bread and English muffins should get toasted; fresh bread, fresh bagels, fresh corn muffins should be served au naturel, unless there is a lousy baker in which case why are you there in the first place?

Tuesday, October 18, 2022
We attended a very interesting discussion tonight at the New-York Historical Society on “The Constitution and the Court” by three constitutional law professors.  The overturning of Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113 (1973) by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, 597 US ___ (2022) was offered as parallel to the overturning of Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 US 537 (1896) by Brown v. Board of Education, 347 US 383 (1954).  I don't accept the comparison, but it evokes envy.  
 
Brown expanded opportunity while Dobbs restricted it.  Brown was the culmination of a carefully orchestrated plan by Thurgood Marshall at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to destroy the concept of “separate but equal” case by case, court by court, state by state over years.  By contrast, abortion was stripped of constitutional protection in one quick stroke.
 
Wednesday, October 19, 2022
12 days ago, I recounted the elevated prices at the five local Michelin three-star restaurants, ranging from $195 to $750.  Well, they are mostly pikers compared to Noma, the celebrated Copenhagen restaurant, which will operate in Kyoto, Japan for a 10-week residency.  It will charge just over 850 euros per person including drinks, tax and service. 
. . .

We saw a thrilling performance tonight by Twyla Tharp’s dance company.  It consisted of two of her signature pieces, "In the Upper Room" and "Nine Sinatra Songs."  "In the Upper Room" is a burst of kinetic energy set to the percussive music of Philip Glass.  The title is a mystery.  Mahalia Jackson sang a gospel song of the same name, otherwise not even remotely connected to the dance work.
There is no confusion about "Nine Sinatra Songs," romantic encounters by various couples. The program only runs through this weekend, but set your sights on any future performances. 

Thursday, October 20, 2022
Our Internet has been unreliable for many weeks.  When we traced the problem to the router that we rent from Verizon, we reported it to them on October 10th.  In their mad rush to fix it, a guy came today.  
. . .

I enjoy the writing of Vanessa Friedman, the Chief Fashion Critic of the New York Times, although I am an unlikely patron of the products reviewed.  Today, she writes more about the absence of clothes. “Wearing Less and Expressing More” is the print headline. 

What intrigued me was this comment from an author/professor of fashion and feminism: “It’s about, ‘I have the right to expose myself the way I want to.’”  Okay, but what about me?  Do I have the right to look, to admire what is exposed?  Or, must I avert my gaze to avoid being thought an ogler, a leerer, rather than a connoisseur? 
. . .

I returned to Urban Hawker, 135 West 50th Street, occupying the block-long corridor between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, for lunch.  It houses 17 vendors offering varieties of Asian cuisine.  It was very busy and you have to hunt for a seat, that is if you don’t mind being surrounded by your grandchildren’s friends.

I bought a Classic Roti John from Ashes Burnnit, a branch of an established Singapore hamburger joint ($11.99).  Roti is ordinarily an Indian pancake, akin to a tortilla.  Here, though, it was a soft hero roll, open, covered with curry beef, cheese, a fried egg, lettuce and coriander.  It was very good and I won’t fault the name mixup.  Note that Ashes Burnnit applies a 3.5% credit card surcharge.  The origin of the name is unclear.  All that I can discern is that in Singapore they use a deep charcoal-colored hamburger bun, here not.
 

 
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Saturday, October 15, 2022

Music Lesson

Saturday, October 8, 2022  
A new movie starring Cate Blanchett opened yesterday entitled “Tár.”  Do you want to see a movie about Tár?  Is it a person, place or thing?
. . .

My latest unpublished letter to the New York Times: "With Florida sending defenseless refugees to New York, New Yorkers should not be sending money to Florida for hurricane relief.  It may be a deserving cause, but our needs are paramount and Florida is only exacerbating them.”
. . .
 
The headline reads: “America's best regional desserts: 15 sweet treats to try.”  
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/best-regional-desserts-america/index.html

It provides an interesting assortment of good things, not all familiar.  I must confess that the most seductive is the Lane Cake from Alabama, a layer cake with a buttery, bourbon- or brandy-spiked raisin mixture filling that might  include pecans and coconut.  Maybe there's some hope for Alabama.
. . .

Overall, in the dessert arena, Italy is second to no one, but there are complications.  For instance, Stracciatella is a cheese made by mixing leftover scraps from mozzarella production with fresh cream.  Stracciatella is also a meat broth drizzled with beaten eggs, looking like little rags (straccetti). At the top of the food chain, however, is Stracciatella, vanilla gelato filled with fine, irregular shavings of chocolate, the Italian alternative to chocolate chips. 

So, what does this have to do with a mislabelled Häagen-Dazs flavor?  They call it Double Belgian Chocolate Chip and it is delicious, but it is really chocolate stracciatella, shaved chocolate in a rich, dark chocolate ice cream.  There are no chocolate chips.  Is not calling even a wonderful spade a spade residual antagonism from WWII?

Monday, October 10, 2022
Urban Hawker, 135 West 50th Street, has been open less than one month.  It is an 11,000 square foot food court, in the corridor between high-rise buildings from West 50th Street to West 51st Street.  It has 17 vendors offering Chinese, Singaporean, Indian, Japanese, Filipino and Indonesian food, although most with a Singaporean twist where the venture originated.  https://www.urbanhawker.com/vendors

Seating is informal and the patrons are decidedly from generations towards the end of the alphabet.  It was very crowded at the lunch hour, with some stands having long lines, while others were being ignored.  I ordered from Smokey Joe's, featuring Hainanese Singaporean food although my chicken cutlet seemed generic, even with white rice, braised cabbage and fried egg ($13).  I enjoyed it and an average-size person would have found it filling.  

I'll be back to explore Asia more thoroughly, but I am likely to bring my own Diet Coke at less than $3 a can.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022
We are in the midst of Sukkot (soo.koat), known as Succos (suh.cuss) in Brooklyn Hebrew, a holiday celebrating both the harvest and the wandering in Sinai, the blessings of attachment to the land and the frustration of seeking a land.  Meals are held in a Sukkah, a temporary structure outside the home, not unlike where New Yorkers have been dining for two years now.  Some very religious Jews will even sleep in the Sukkah during the holiday's seven-day duration, even though its roof is porous, not meant to protect against the elements.

The weather in Teaneck, New Jersey was balmy today and lunch with Butch and Toby in their Sukkah, with other guests, was very satisfying even at my sub-spiritual level. 

Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Real Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen, 811 Eighth Avenue, is about as awkwardly named as you can imagine.  Getting there late in the lunch hour avoided its usual crowds; only 9 of its 32 seats were occupied.  Its menu is almost as lenghty as its name, a lot of dimsum and a lot of noodles, wet and dry.  I had scallion pancake with sliced beef ($9.95), 2" wide by 8" long, cut in four pieces, and pan-fried Peking duck buns ($9.25 for 2).  They were both well prepared, but I would have preferred the duck at room temperature with less sauce, closer to Peking duck than duck ragout. 

Thursday, October 13, 2022
An obituary for Art Laboe, a radio disc jockey for almost 80 years, says that “Sh-Boom” by the Chords, released in 1954, was “sometimes cited as the first rock ‘n’ roll record." 

I demur.  First of all, it had no flavor of the blues, boogie-woogie, gospel or country music that are at the roots of rock ‘n’ roll.  It came closer to crooning than rhythm and blues.  Second, on one list of early examples of rock ‘n’ roll, it places #38, behind recordings going back to 1944.  https://www.history-of-rock.com/numberonerecord.htm

Another source cites "My Man Rocks Me (with One Steady Roll)" by Trixie Smith, issued in 1922, referring to "rocking" and "rolling".   https://youtu.be/PvzmBA91P3c

In 1937, Ella Fitzgerald sang, "Now it's true that once upon a time/The opera was the thing/But today the rage is rhythm and rhyme/So won't you satisfy my soul/With the rock and roll?" almost 20 years before Alan Freed first used the phrase.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CDI6lc7EfA

To my mind, "Roll 'Em Pete" by Pete Johnson and Big Joe Turner, 1938, was the source of the best that followed. 

[The above segment again demonstrates my willingness to address controversial subjects without fear or favor.]

Friday, October 14, 2022
It’s been a long time since we enjoyed Aunt Judi’s cooking, but tonight we ate in Uncle Stuie’s sturdy Sukkah and, even though it was just the four of us, the food never seemed to stop.

We had mushroom chestnut soup, corned beef, onion-crusted chicken breasts,  pargiyot (marinated chicken thighs), butternut squash, farro (whole grain wheat), apple cranberry salad, brownies, homemade (as was everything else) cookie dough mixed into Tofutti (non-dairy ice cream) and chocolate mousse.  
 
Even if it hadn't been a holiday, this food made it a holiday.


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Saturday, October 8, 2022

Chew On This

Saturday, October 1, 2022
How thoughtful of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to transport those beleaguered Venezuelan refugees out of the path of Hurricane Ian to the safety of the Holy Land.
. . .

This article discusses the plight of a South African musician, who wrote the music to what we now know as "Wimoweh" or "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in 1939, without realizing substantial financial benefit, because of the workings of copyright law and lawyers.   https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/30/t-magazine/cultural-appropriation.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

I have questions about some of the story; the Weavers are never mentioned, although their 1952 recording brought "Wimoweh" to American audiences.

My pedantic focus, however, fell on this phrase "Copyright law (within human history, a fairly recent development)."  What is your estimate of the length of human history?  Wikipedia suggests that human history is divided into four periods, over millions of years:
  • Prehistory
  • Ancient History
  • Post-Classical History
  • Modern History
However, Modern History extends only a bit more than 700 years and that's our world for all practical purposes.  While some concepts reach back thousands of years, our daily life is almost entirely a product of the modern period.  And, sure enough, copyright law first appeared in Great Britain in 1662, arguably almost at the start of Modern History.  Just saying.

Sunday, October 2, 2022
In most American urban areas, tenacity, rather than strategy, has produced significant growth in wealth in the form of real estate appreciation.  While it is not unusual to speak of a property doubling or tripling in value, there is another way of looking at it.   

Don't just think of appreciation as a big lump sum waiting for you when you die, but rather as a daily payment, one hundred, two hundred dollars every single day.  It can give you a warm feeling.

Monday, October 3, 2022
Having suffered the agony of defeat with the Mets series in Atlanta this weekend, I thought it most appropriate that I eat Vietnamese food for lunch today.  Since I had appointments in two different buildings of the NYU medical megalith on East 38th Street, Sai Gon Dep, 719 Second Avenue around the corner, was a natural choice.  I had a good meal there on July 22nd and found the Vietnamese gracious victors.  And guess what?  It was gone.  Store for rent.  That's piling defeat upon defeat.
. . .

We were fortunate to attend a program at the New-York Historical Society tonight, where Walter Russell Mead, author of "The Arc of a Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People," spoke.  The New York Times called his book "A Nuanced History of the Forces Shaping U.S.-Israel Relations" and he was awfully well-informed and persuasive (and decidedly un-Jewish).    

Of the many juicy ideas that he offers, this simple one fascinates me: If the United States did not have the cruel national origins policy codified in the Immigration Act of 1924, there would be no state of Israel.  America was the destination of millions of Jews before narrow quotas were imposed, while migration to Palestine was a trickle.  "Jewish immigration to Palestine constituted only 3 percent of the  transoceanic Jewish migration during that [pre-World War I] period.  By way of comparison, of the 2,367,000 Jews who left Europe then, 2,022,000 established themselves in the US."   https://www.cjpme.org/fs_181

These Jews were fleeing pogroms and economic hardship and things certainly got worse in Europe over the next two decades.  When there was a choice, only dedicated Zionists, secular Socialists typically, sought Palestine.  America was the land of milk and honey, not the arid desert speck set among hostile neighbors.

Very religious Jews only went to Palestine to be buried in the holy soil of Jerusalem.  The large Mount of Olives cemetery dates from the 16th century.  Without the Messiah, there could be no Israel, they believed, and, therefore, no reason to live a life there.

Thursday, October 5, 2022
Having broken the fast at the bountiful table of Connie and David Goldfarb last night with lox, whitefish and pickled herring, I am primed to face this new year vigorously.  I started appropriately, in the company of 8 other members of the Boyz Club, at Wo Hop, 17 Mott Street, the Sanctum Sanctorum of Chinatown Chinese food.

The weather was mild enough and our group large enough to be seated outside in the disease-warding, curbside shed, although, infections aside, I prefer Wo Hop’s tight, claustrophobic, underground confines.  Actually, sitting in the fresh air may have improved our appetite.  We consumed fried wontons, duck chow fun, beef chow fun, honey crispy chicken, tangerine beef, mushroom egg foo young, eggplant with garlic sauce and mushroom fried rice.  It came to $17 each, with our usual generous gratuity.  
. . .

Meanwhile, I have been searching unsuccessfully for an answer to the question: "Did Gary Cohen, Howie Rose and Mike Greenberg (very successful sports broadcasters) work on Yom Kippur?"  It's important to me not as a measure of their spiritual life, an area where I am notably deficient, but as as an opportunity for them to tell the world that being Jewish still means something.  I believe that being part of the world's oldest traveling circus still means something, even if beyond my ability to explain.

Friday, October 7, 2022
Michelin has just published its latest Holy Land dining edition.  Five restaurants retain their three-star rating from last year.  I've lifted their prices from their websites.  Enjoy yourself.
  • Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare (really in Manhattan) charges $430 for its tasting menu, tax, service and wine not included.
  • Eleven Madison Park's seasonal, plant-based tasting menu consists of 8-10 courses, served in the dining room at $365 per person.  A six-course version in the bar area is $195.
  • Le Bernardin offers a Chef's Tasting Menu at $295, $445 with wine pairing; a four-course dinner is $195.
  • Masa's Omakase dinner is $750 per person, not including beverage and tax.  Omakase may be translated as "Oh my god."
  • Per Se offers a nine-course chef's tasting menu and a nine-course vegetable tasting menu.  Each menu is $325 with service, but not wine or tax.  "No single ingredient is ever repeated throughout the meal."
 
 


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Saturday, October 1, 2022

Statementship

Saturday, September 24, 2022
If you happen to pass by Palazzo di Gotthelf in the next few days, you are likely to notice a warm glow coming from within.  Fear not, it is not from an overheated electrical appliance, but rather from the presence of America’s Loveliest Nephrologist, visiting from the Left Coast.  
. . .

A headline on the on-line version of The Forward reads “Could the High Holidays be affecting the stock market?”  Such a question.  Everybody knows that you sell on Rosh Hashanah and buy on Yom Kippur.

Sunday, September 25, 2022
Today is the 10th anniversary of the death of Mother Ruth Gotthelf, which was two months shy of her 103rd birthday.  It came about four hours before the start of Yom Kippur, making funeral planning particularly difficult.  With the help of family and friends, the funeral and shiva proceeded in an orderly fashion, with a healthy balance of sadness at her loss and joy for all that she gave us over those many years.
. . .

In "Love’s Labour's Lost," Shakespeare wrote “Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye."  Associate Justice Potter Stewart wrote "I know it when I see it," regarding obscenity in Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964).  

Today, we seem to be more challenged in dealing with offensive speech rather than beauty or obscenity.  Some recent examples include two white guys in a “Multicultural Communities of Excellence” space at Arizona State University, one with a Did Not Vote for Biden T-shirt, the other a Police Lives Matter sticker on his laptop (https://nyti.ms/3qkHO6V); a documentary film about former Guantánamo detainees made by a non-Muslim white woman (https://nyti.ms/3LFhRZq); a Twitter comment and a poster addressed to a German politician that read “Du bist so 1 Pimmel” (You are such a penis) (https://nyti.ms/3R7H0go).  Each produced negative consequences, sometimes in several directions.  
 
More general are the broadly-based attacks on school and public libraries, usually in pursuit of "obscene and pornographic materials" (https://twitter.com/henrymcmaster/status/1458554676291440640) or "an aggressive, radical totalitarian ideology" (https://www.noleftturn.us/mission-goals-objectives/).

The most difficult question in cases of this sort is how to evaluate the grievance.  Rabbi Shemuel ben Nachmani said "We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are."  My own contribution, although not all encompassing, is “Hated speech is not necessarily hate speech.” And, there is always "Sticks and stones . . . "
. . . 

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that 82% of people in the U.S. have been infected with Covid-19 at least once as of July 11th.

This seems like a shockingly high number, although it is from an outfit that is well-established and quite credible.  Look around and see if that estimate comports with your own observation.

Wednesday, September 28, 2022
I ended 5782 with lunch at a new (to me) Chinese restaurant and I began 5783 with a new (to me) Chinese restaurant.  Chili, 13 East 37th Street (the name could apply to a Mexican, Thai, Indian restaurant as well), is a relatively narrow, deep joint, with about 30 tables.  Lighting is supplied by crystal (?) chandeliers and faux Tiffany fixtures, but there was little else to complain about.  It was packed at lunchtime, but service was prompt and efficient.

I ordered Beef Pancake Wrap, a thin, crispy scallion pancake wrapped around braised beef shank and hoisin sauce ($13), a tube about 6" long and 1" diameter.  I also had a large and tasty portion of Fried Rice with Shredded Tea Smoked Duck ($15).  I came away full and happy.  Let's see what the rest of the year brings. 

Thursday, September 29, 2022
The husband of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., filed for divorce Wednesday morning in a Georgia court.  Swipe right.

Friday, September 30, 2022
Whatever happened to that guy?  "As a freshman congressman in 2013, Ron DeSantis was unambiguous: A federal bailout for the New York region after Hurricane Sandy was an irresponsible boondoggle, a symbol of the ‘put it on the credit card mentality’ he had come to Washington to oppose."  

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