Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Literary Disappointment(s)

After enjoying Mary Kay Zurvaleff's "The Bowl is Already Broken" so much, I had great hopes for her earlier, first novel, "The Frequency of Souls". Alas, half way through I gave up. The characters (two refrigerator engineers having an affair) left me cold.

Earlier, I had given up on another book, well before half way. That was "A Very Different Plot", one of William F. Buckley's mysteries starring Blackford Oakes, his normal (apparently) hero. Not bad, but boring, boring, boring. What? William Buckley boring? Yawn

Chef Geoff is a Cheapskate

When I see a souvenir item, I always assume it is meant to be distributed as a souvenir. So last night, after supper with one of my college roommates, the waitress at Chef Geoff's on New Mexico Avenue brought the bill, took our credit cards, and came back with the typical three copies and a Chef Geoff's pen. I signed the credit card slip, giving a 20% tip, and held on to the pen.

The waitress said: "are you going to give the pen back, or do you want to keep it?" It was a friendly question and I gave an equally friendly answer: "thought I'd keep it".

She then surprised me by saying: "ok, but I just want you to know that every time someone takes a pen, we get charged for it."

"You get charged for the pen?", I said, incredulously. "Yes. $1.19".

Chef Geoff is a cheapskate. I gave back the pen. Won't eat there any more, though.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Equinox and Peter Mahks (1 cent)

Last spring I had lunch at Equinox, ordered lamb, and had one of the best tasting dishes I have ever had. Last night, back at Equinox for dinner, ordered lamb, and it was a repeat. My word of advice: if you eat at Equinox, get the lamb.

About the same time, Peter Marx wrote a devestating review of Theodore Bikel's excellent performance in "The Disputation", the story of a 13th century debate between a Christian and a Jew in Spain. He tried so hard to find bad things to say about it, that he even criticized Bikel's shoes as being too contemporary. Yesterday, Marx wrote a review of Ariel Dorfman's new play, "Picasso's Closet", which I have not yet seen. This review was reasoned, sophisticated, balanced, and very professional.

The moral of the story: Things that start out best cannot get better, but other things can. (I think that's the moral of the story.)

Monday, June 26, 2006

sprechen sie english?

I went back to the National Geographic crusade exhibit. The models were just as intriguing. The pictures just as alluring. Looking at the pictures closer, I realized for the first time that both sides (Christians and Moslems) built castles, and that their architecture was remarkably similar.

Then I started looking at the text on the photographic exhibits. Each is in English and French. The organization sponsoring the exhibit, however, appears to be German.

So, I now assume that both the French and English is a translation from the German. I cannot parse the French sufficiently to know, but the English is downright embarrassing, with grammatical errors, and malapropisms galore. And, in addition to the language problems, these detailed explanations, which look like they will be so helpful, in fact are not. They read like you turned to the middle of a badly written book and, as hard as you try, you just cannot figure out the plot, or the characters.

Shame on you, NG. You can do better than this.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

It is very depressing...

I have recently read two books that would seem to have nothing to do with each other, "The Foot of Pride" by Malcolm Hay, published in 1950, and"African Women" by Mark Mathabane, published in 1994. "African Women" tells the story of three women, mother, daughter, granddaughter in a black township outside of Johannesburg, South Africa, and "The Foot of Pride" tells the story of the anti-Jewish (anti-Semitic) attitudes of the Catholic church throughout its history. What could they have in common?

The Catholic church, for reasons both political and economic, determined (consciously or not) to make the Jews the theological bad guys, the most dangerous elements in society, and enemies of Christendom. The results were predictable. The Jews were persecuted (with short term lapses) incessently. The South African all-white ruling classes determined, for reasons both political and economic, that the black South Africans were the social bad guys, the most dangerous elements in society, and the enemies of civilized society. The blacks were persecuted incessently.

But there is also a difference. The persecuted Jewish community was persecuted because of its belief system, and this belief system remained by and large in place, avoiding Jew vs. Jew violence. The persecuted black community did not have a coherent belief system to hold it together, so it fragmented. One of the most serious aspects of this fragmentation, brought about by and large as a result of economic pressures, was the disintegration of male-female relationships.

Today, the Catholic church has dropped many of its theological anti-Jewish positions, and the South African government is by and large in the hands of the formerly persecuted blacks. Clearly, Catholic countries still have anti-Semites, and there are still South African whites who are prejudiced against blacks. But times have changed, presumably for the better.

I am not sure I am saying anything very profound here, but looking at the terrible problems these three African women had with the men in their lives (and I mean terrible problems), I saw a commonality with the problems that the Jews had in Catholic Europe. Being treated as something less than human. And being helpless to do anything about it.

Maybe, persecution is persecution, wherever it occurs. It is the result of politics and economics, and it is the same, whether its victims are the Jews of Catholic Europe, or the black women of apartheid South Africa.

If you wanted to see.......

1. Extraordinary photos of Antarctica taken by a professional photographer who has taken several trips to photograph both natural scenes and various bases for scientific exploration......

2. A fascinating exhibit on Sikh history, religion and culture in Punjab, with detailed yet readable explanations beside the photographs and items on display.......

3. An exhibit of about 50 photographs taken in the 1920s in China and Inner Mongolia for the National Geographic on an expedition co-sponsored by Harvard, whose leader was the son of the founder of the Baldwin Piano company........

4. A very detailed and easy to follow exhibit on the Lewis & Clark expedition with maps, books, photos, and items belonging to the explorers and used on the trip, as well as contemporary Indian artifacts, etc.......

5. A significant exhibit on the effect of global warming on the Arctic.......,

where would you go?

Saturday, June 24, 2006

How do you pronounce "Gyro"?

Sound Travels Faster Than Light?

I know that is not what is normally taught, but how else do you explain the following:

Last night the Nationals played the Orioles. The game was televised on Comcast sports, the normal network that televises Orioles games. It was on the radio on 1500 AM, the normal Nats station.

I decided to watch the game with the sound off, and turn the radio on so that I had announcers biased towards DC and not Baltimore.

To my suprise, I found that the radio cast was about five seconds in front of the telecast. In other words, on the radio that would say "a fast ball, strike two" when, on the television, the pitcher had not yet begun his wind up.

Needless to say, I had to give up my preferred plan and listen to the Orioles announcers.

Why is this the case? Do radio waves travel faster than live cable tv signals? Or do the Orioles want to make sure that no one listens to the Nats announcers?

Thursday, June 22, 2006

What is Promise Whittaker doing now? (25 cents)

In case you don't know, Promise Whittaker is the central character in Mary Kay Zuravleff's "The Bowl is Already Broken", a 2005 novel that ranks today number 338,420 in the amazon.com listing of books by number of sales.

Are there 338,419 better books on the market? No, way.

This novel, written by a friend of my wife's, is the story of Ms. Whittaker, a scholar of medieval Persian poetry who finds herself very unexpectedly named acting director of an Asian Art Museum on the Mall (that is in everything but name, the Freer) at the time there is a crisis threatening the museum's existence. Balancing the eccentricities of the museum's staffers, with the demands of her two elementary school children, and her husband who works at Amnesty International and looks at everything from a global political perspective, she needs to find a way to explain how a priceless Chinese vase is dropped and shattered at a public ceremony, and to understand why the Smithsonian wants to close the museum and move the art work to the National Gallery. To make matters more complicated, Promise finds out that she, at age 43 and quite unexpectedly is pregnant, that one of her top researchers has embezzled thousands of dollars from her travel account, and that the Castle wants to turn the museum building into a food court, that her predecessor has been kidnapped on an archeological dig in a remote and hardly civilized country. What more can go wrong?

The book is very engrossing, very clever, extremely well written, and hard to put down.

Eighteen readers commented on the Amazon site. Seventeen of the eighteen gave the book 5 stars or just about 5 stars. One reader gave it zero stars and said it was the worst book ever. Were it not for this one review, this book would have been a five star book. So, why is it number 338,420?

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Clang, Clang (25 cents)

The Tuesday concert at the Church of the Epiphany was by Brass of Peace, a 25 year old organization that sponsors a high school brass ensemble. Participating were 10 high school students and 8 alumni, led by NSO horn player Sylvia Alimena.

The highlight of the program was Benjamin Britten's "Funeral Music", composed during the Spanish Civil War, and a very powerful, evocative piece. Unfortunately, it was followed by Bruckner's "Ave Maria" and "Antiphon", which left me cold (as Bruckner always does).

The church's accoustics are perfect for brass instruments and the musicians were good, but they are clearly not professional and I couldn't help thinking, listening to the program, how good it would sound in professional hands. This is not to criticize the highschoolers; after all, they are highschoolers.

I did not stay for the last two pieces, which were on the 'pop', more than the classical side. Gershwin's "Summertime" is, to me, a vocal piece, not one for trumpets, horns, trombones and tubas, and Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" is for reeds, not brass.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Ancient Scrolls, Medieval Castles, and For All You Sports Fans........

The National Geographic Society Museum is a treat this month. I have not yet given it the attention it deserves.

For one thing, it is exhibiting several papyrus pages of the 4th century scrolls, recently found in Egypt and now being studied, including the Gospel of Judas. The scrolls are obviously fascinating to look at, and the explanations are very interesting, going into the discovery, the creation of the scrolls, the language, the contents, the dating and the preservation. You can also watch on a small screen tv the NG cable show where all this is visualized.

I can't say that I understand the Gospel of Judas, other than to know that, until now everyone assumed (and most probably still do) that Judas was evil, and this Gospel makes him a good guy. Of course, I don't understand fundamental Christian theology at all. I don't know what makes someone good or bad in Christian religious terms. As I understand the thinking, God put Jesus on earth to suffer and die for the sins of mankind, and Judas, along with Pontius Pilate and a bunch of Romans and some Jewish leaders, went along and assisted in the suffer and die part. Does that make them bad because they made Jesus suffer and die? Or does that make them good, because they were fulfilling God's plan? It seems to me you can't have it both ways.

But what do I know?

In any event, after you ponder all of this, you are transported about 1000 years later, and you see very large and detailed models of a Crusader Castle and of an Arab bazaar. Very neat. And there is signage to tell you all about the many, many crusader castles, with maps, descriptions of architecture and usage and photos and individual descriptive information about (I would guess 20 to 30 of them).

And, if that is not enough, you get a third exhibit (and this museum is pretty small) about how soccer is played around the world. Not that I found this one very interesting: pictures of people playing soccer in Africa and in Europe and in Latin America. Folks, no matter where it is, they seem to play the same and dress the same.

But, forget about the pictures on the wall. What you get is a VERY large screen projection TV, tuned to ESPN2, showing you World Cup action live, with bleachers built so about 25 people can watch at any time.

The scrolls leave June 9; the other exhibits are there until September, along with a photographic exhibit about to open featuring pictures taken by someone named Reza who has been photographing wars and tragedies for decades.

Monday, June 19, 2006

A Noted Sociological Phenomenon

Traditional Muslim women do not attend baseball games.

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Bethesda/Chevy Chase

Friends of ours invited us to a party held last night in honor of their son and future daughter in law. The wedding is to take place elsewhere and this was the celebration for their Washington friends.

The save the date card came eons ago and we marked our calendars. The invitation came about six or eight weeks ago. We looked at it and remembered it was to be held at the Chevy Chase Women's Club.

Yesterday, we looked at the invitation again to check the time, and left our house driving up Connecticut Avenue to the affair. The parking lot at the Women's Club was 100% empty.

We were not sure what happened. We knew we had the date and time and venue correctly. We knew there was to be a party because we saw a number of the attendees earlier in the day. All we could think of was that they had changed the locale and told everyone but us. It made little sense.

Driving home, we pondered. Arriving home, we looked at the invitation, and saw that the party was at the Bethesda Women's Club. Who knew that there was a Bethesda Women's Club? There is a single Chevy Chase-Bethesda High School. Neither Chevy Chase nor Bethesda is a political jurisdiction, so there are no definitive boundaries between them. Why would there be two locations? And why would they choose this one, which we were not even familiar with.

Back in the car, back out Connecticut Avenue, but this time clipping over East West Highway and Old Georgetown Road. We got to the party almost an hour late (but in time for the food).

Telling our tale to the host, he told me that he had recently been to a function at the Chevy Chase Women's Club given by a Jewish lady and how that never would have happened in the olden days because the club was restricted. I didn't know that, but perhaps that is why there was a separate Bethesda Club. Maybe that was the club that Christians could not go to. I don't know.

Neither of these clubs seem like clubs. They are white painted one storey brick buildings with what looks like a vestibule, a party room and a kitchen. Do they have members? What do they do there? Can men join? There certainly is not Chevy Chase or Bethesda Men's Club.

Is there?

Friday, June 16, 2006

Bob Seeger (2 cents)

I am at a client reception last night, and the talk turns to Bob Seeger. I say "never heard of him. The only Seeger I know is Pete Seeger". At first, no one believes me and then, as they realize that I at least think I am telling the truth, another form of disbelief enters their mind.

I now understand that he is a rock and roll singer.

I am posting this for two reasons. First, it may help remember Bob Seeger the next time his name comes up. And second, when it does, I will be able to say: "Do I know Bob Seeger? Not only do I know who he is, I have written about him."

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Food Report

Lest anyone think I have not sampled the city's restaurants since I have been home, I have eaten at the Pacific Bar and Restaurant, a Vietnamese restaurant on Capitol Hill, the Parthenon and Arucola in Chevy Chase, McCormick and Schmick on K Street, the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, Cosi's, Au Bon Pain and Rose Mexicano. Ranking my meals, I would say Arucola, McCormick and Schmick, L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, Cosi, Rosa Mexicano, Parthenon and Pacific Bar and Restaurant in that order.

Man on the Street (2 cents)

So, i walk out of my office today and turn down 17th Street towards K. I see a homeless man (at least by all appearances) near the corner with a half gallon of milk in one hand, and what looks like some sort of a sandwich or wrap in the other. He alternates between bites and sips. Then, he must be full, without having finished either. Near the corner are a row of newpaper vendor stands of various sorts. He opens one that contains free newspapers. It is about half full with papers not yet taken by passersby by. He puts the lid on the milk carton and wraps up his sandwich. He lays them neatly on the newspapers in the vendor stand, closes it up, and walks down the street.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Colleen Wagner's "The Monument" (16 cents)

is playing at the Theater Alliance on H Street NE. It is a two person, one act play (80 minutes long) dealing with a young man who, in the [unnamed] war committed many atrocities including the rape and murder of 23 women. A woman rescues him from execution as a war criminal by making with him a pseudo-Mephistophiclean agreement that he can live as long as he will do anything she asks, whatever it may be. He agrees.

She winds up torturing him.

Well, the play, which won some Canadian awards, and has been well reviewed by the Post, has some good dramatic moments, but more that are a bit tedious, distasteful and tendentious (whatever that means). It is very well acted.

Moral dilemmas. Sure, he did awful things. But at what point does the good soldier turn into the war criminal? At what point is an eye for an eye good moral policy? Is his savior/torturer any better than he is? Are the two of them in fact peas of a sort of pod, bound together for life?

We saw a play years ago called "Extremities", where a woman captures her would-be rapist and tortures him. We saw Ariel Dorfman's "Death and the Maiden", where a former tortured female prisoner in an unamed Latin American country confronts her torturer years later, by chance.

All these plays present questions. None give any answers. Perhaps there are none.

Should you see this play (which closes this weekend)? If you like staged torture scenes which are well performed, why not?

Monday, June 12, 2006

My Parking Garage

The attendants at my garage are an international bunch. I don't know where all of them come from.

I am sure that they are just a fine group of fellows, but.......

on some level, I am convinced that, when the revolution comes, this group is going to lead the forces that will be out to get me. I see it in their eyes.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Michelle Asks About Prague

She is correct. On the Israel trip, I did finish the 'Travelers' Tales Guide' book: "Prague and the Czech Republic". Although I had read the vast majority of it earlier.

It is an extraordinary book.

It is one of a series of anthologies written by and for travelers to various countries and cities across the world. Whether the others are as good, I don't know. I do know that the others cannot be any better.

There are 42 separate first party stories of traveling to, or living in, Prague or other parts of the Czech Republic. Almost everyone of them is a gem, both informative, humorous, and individual.

We spent several days in Prague last summer; I had been there once before during its dark Communist days. I noted many things about Prague on these short visits. Every single one of them is noted in one or more of these short pieces.

I won't even try to describe the stories. You have to read them yourselves. I will say that, as I ended the book, I thought to myself: the only thing they missed was the Velkopopovicky dark beer that we discovered and liked so much.

And there it was, on page 301 of this 302 page book. "They can't afford to go to the old vinamas in their own neighborhoods any more...only tourists can afford that place, Anna will say with contempt, as if she never wanted to go there anyway, thought it was once her pub, where she could get a glass of Volkopopopvicky Kozel for a dime."

As I said, this book is perfect.

Viva Mexico (2 cents)

Congratulations to Mexico on its 3-1 World Cup victory over Iran.

I am not sure what my reaction would have been if today's Iran had won a World Cup match in a stadium in Nuremberg.

Even for me, that would have been too much.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Embarrassing Readings?

I hate to admit it, but my reading on my Israel trip left a lot to be desired.

My goal was to read a book called "The Coffee Trader" by David Liss, which I understood to be the story of how a Jewish merchant and a Dutch widow worked together to bring coffee to the market in 17th century Amsterday, popularizing a drink designed to sharpen the wits of businessmen, and which had previously been drunk only in places like Turkey and other parts of the middle east. My disappointment was that the book was a historical novel; I did not know that and had expected a history. My disappointment was increased when I discovered that the book was not particularly well written. I closed the book after about 100 pages.

Then, I got busy and it was not until I had a chance to fish around in a couple of used book stores in Jerusalem (there are many there) that I found a couple of signed, English language books which I acquired.

Well, the first one that I decided to read was the autobiography of, believe it or not, Grace Slick, who had been the Jefferson Airplane vocalist among other things. 'A rock and roll memoir' says that cover page. Well, if anything can convince you that a life of sex, drugs and rock and roll is dull, dull, dull, this book can. Dull, dull, dull.

Then, I moved to a book that I assumed would be equally worthless as a read, but for different reasons. Called "Visions and Jewels", written by Moyshe Oyved, and published in the 1920's, it tells the story of a restless Jewish teenager from Poland, who with a friend runs away to England at age 16 (in 1903) and, after several twists and turns, becomes a successful jeweler, re-named Edward Good, and owner of a shop called the Cameo Corner. In fact, the book, which tells of the trials and tribulations of a talented but impoverished immigrant into London's East End, and not only how he builds a retail business, but how he develops his literary sensibilities and becomes not only a multi-book author, but a friend to London's Jewish and non-Jewish literary community. In fact, it was a fascinating find.

Friday, June 09, 2006

The Dog Days of Israel (1 cent)

This morning, here in Washington, I was taking an early walk and passed a woman and her very handsome Boston terrier.

I like watching dogs, although I have always believed they should lead independent lives, not be house pets, and have all of the rights of other citizens, but no more. I certainly do not want to have, or be tied down by, a canine.

Having said that, this morning's terrier reminded me of the extraordinary number of dogs that you see in Israel, and how proud and handsome they appear, whether walking with their owners or on their own (if Israel has leash laws, they do not seem to be enforced).

So, next time you think about Israel, it's ok to think about the Jews and the Muslims, but don't forget the dogs. And when you see newscasts about the suicide bombers and all that other stuff, it is ok to bemoan all of that (of course), but don't forget the dogs. Perhaps they shall inherit the promised land. The dog days of Israel.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Think of a laboratory mouse in a cage (22 cents)

The cage is rectangular and has three or four mouse-treadmills. The circular kind, shaped like a ferris wheel. The mouse runs and runs on the bottom, the treadmill goes around and around, and the mouse gets nowhere.

The mouse gets tired of the particular treadmill it is on, and moves to one of the others, where the scene is simply repeated.

On and on it goes, infinitely running and changing treadmills. You would expect it will do this 'til its last breath.

The mouse is frustrated. It wishes it were not on a treadmill. It believes that there must be a way to combine the treadmills, so it does not have to go from one to another. Maybe this would happen if it went faster,....or slower. The mouse knows that if it could only bring the treadmills together, it would end the confusion of its life and enter into that period of bliss and relaxation that has always escaped it.

This is what I thought of the night before last, as I listened to Ariel Dorfman speak at the Nextbook Author Series. Ariel Dorfman, on the Anglo treadmill, the Latino treadmill, the Jewish treadmill, the defender-of-the-downtrodden treadmill, the writer treadmill, the talking head treadmill, the academic treadmill, the family treadmill.

Whew. If only he didn't seem to approach everything just like my imagined laboratory mouse.

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Plumb Out of Explanations (31 cents)

Here is the short version:

1. Our kitchen sink spigot needs a new thingamagig, because water has begun to splay in all directions when you turn it on. An upstairs bathroom sink spigot needs a new internal thingamabob, because when you turn it off, unless you point it all the way to "cold", there remains a slow, annoying drip.

2. I leave the country for twelve days; my wife stays home.

3. I return and there is a new, perfectly functioning thingamagig on the kitchen spigot and a new, perfectly functioning thingamabob on the bathroom sink spigot.

4. My wife says that there was no plumber in the house while I was gone, and that, while she noticed everything was fixed as well, she has no explanation.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Let's Start With Something Important (26 cents)

Obviously, blogging from Israel did not work, and I think I will write up the trip elsewhere, so we are starting here from scratch.

Let's start with something important: Zips.

If you get your clothes into Zips by 9 a.m., you can get them back the same day by 5 p.m. It was when I was leaving the house, with the intention of going to Zips and dropping my clothes off on the way to the office, that it struck me: it was 9:05 a.m. That meant that I would not be able to get my clothes back until tomorrow.

I was furious that I had missed this important deadline. Of course, I did not need my clothes back at 5 p.m. today. And, in fact, even if I had arrived at Zips at 8:59, I had not even intended to pick up my clothes today (and in fact it would be logistically impossible because of my schedule tonight). But I was very mad at myself. And still am.

I have heard of road rage. Can someone explain to me the psychology of clothes rage?