Its hills are as high as ever, I am sure. But the Amalfi Restaurant in Rockville has gone downhill, it would seem. Years ago, we had consistently good food there, but Sunday night, the most descriptively accurate word would be 'mediocre'. Is this typical? Was the kitchen staff having a bad day, or celebrating an August vacation? Have our expectations changed, or our taste buds?
We may never find out.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Graham Hancock (45 cents)
The only thing that is not top rate about www.grahamhancock.com is that sometimes you want to print out an article and you get a blank page. Or maybe it's just me. Maybe everyone else can print everything out.
I decided to make this website my homepage on Explorer (I use www.drudgereport.com on Firefox). Every day, they pull together interesting articles about archeology or ancient history. Just today, for example, they have articles (full articles, or at least links to full articles) on studies showing that prehistoric birds might have attacked early humans for food (a study done at Ohio State University); a study posted in Neuroscience Letters that concludes that there is no single part of the brain designed for communication with God (I had never even considered that possibility)(a University of Montreal study); a 2700 year old Saxon belt buckle, very rare, found by a treasure hunter with a metal detector outside of London and given to the Museum of London; a story of 10,000 year old sandals found in Oregon and to be shown in an upcoming National Geographic story on footwear; an article from Australia talking about the discovery of a fossil of a fish with lung capacity which appears to be about 400 million years old, suggesting that fish started to come onto land a long time ago; findings by a Spanish university that suggests that Mayan civilization began to decline when they discovered that there kings were not gods; 3000 year old tombs have been found in Jilin Province in China; the Vatican is not satisfied that the new form of developing stem cells, without killing embryos, is ethical; an article on the continuing debate about whether small skeletons found in Indonesia denote a different form of homenoid, a kind of hobbit; Japanese research that shows bacteria and microbes can be used to power very small machines; Neanderthals had aspects of creativity; and the ruins of Lebanon did not seem to be harmed by the recent war. And it is like that every day!
I decided to make this website my homepage on Explorer (I use www.drudgereport.com on Firefox). Every day, they pull together interesting articles about archeology or ancient history. Just today, for example, they have articles (full articles, or at least links to full articles) on studies showing that prehistoric birds might have attacked early humans for food (a study done at Ohio State University); a study posted in Neuroscience Letters that concludes that there is no single part of the brain designed for communication with God (I had never even considered that possibility)(a University of Montreal study); a 2700 year old Saxon belt buckle, very rare, found by a treasure hunter with a metal detector outside of London and given to the Museum of London; a story of 10,000 year old sandals found in Oregon and to be shown in an upcoming National Geographic story on footwear; an article from Australia talking about the discovery of a fossil of a fish with lung capacity which appears to be about 400 million years old, suggesting that fish started to come onto land a long time ago; findings by a Spanish university that suggests that Mayan civilization began to decline when they discovered that there kings were not gods; 3000 year old tombs have been found in Jilin Province in China; the Vatican is not satisfied that the new form of developing stem cells, without killing embryos, is ethical; an article on the continuing debate about whether small skeletons found in Indonesia denote a different form of homenoid, a kind of hobbit; Japanese research that shows bacteria and microbes can be used to power very small machines; Neanderthals had aspects of creativity; and the ruins of Lebanon did not seem to be harmed by the recent war. And it is like that every day!
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Cosi's (ten cents)
Heard yesterday at Cosi's Dupont Circle. A young man walks up to the sandwich counter, and says, with no trace of emotion or irony, "A tuna cheddar please. But with no cheese."
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Forward! Wait a Moment! (14 cents)
It has been a while, since I reported either on the weekly "Forward" or the bimonthly "Moment", so I thought I would set this down so you can see what you have been missing.
The Forward edition (August 25) was a very interesting one. Look at this.
1. Senator George Allen of VA is Jewish? (His mother, French-Tunisian, was undoubtedly Jewish by birth? She came from a long Portuguese Sephardic family. She could not be married in the Catholic Church (Allen's parents were married by a Justice of the Peace at a Jewish friend's house).
2. Should Israel (and the U.S.) start conversations with Syria? Pro: the Syrians are the gateway for Hezbollah arms into Lebanon. Pro: Hamas' home office is in Damascus. Con: there go the Golan Heights.
3. Are Israeli and American policies too much in lockstep, to the detriment of both?
4. What about Gunter Grass and his revelation that he was an SS member as a very young boy? Has he atoned through his writing (and in fact without this experience, would he have become the novelist he is, and concentrating on morals and ethics, as he has)? Or should the Nobel, or other prizes, be taken from him? Is he the prime example, and one of the last, of Germany coming to terms with its Nazi past?
5. Why is Chabad the first Jewish movement to open synagogues in fast growing, newer suburbs?
6. How about all the scandals hitting Israeli political and religious leaders? Mostly, they are personal (claims of sexual harrassment, etc, and include the president and the two chief rabbis)? Only one involves governmental activity, a claim of improper activity by Knesset member when he was in charge of the environmental policy of the country.
7. Dedication of Al Jolson Way on W 51st St in NYC.
8. Shaun Green, Jewish ball player, now a Met.
9. Is the push for inquiry of failures of the recent war in Lebanon too political to be counted on for reliable answers?
10. The Rabbinic Assembly (modern Orthodox rabbis in USA) put out a statement saying that Israel should not be so protective of civilians during war; clearly Hezbollah was not, and war is war, and Jewish law and tradition does not demand this care or concern. Yuck.
11. The Republican Jewish contender for senator in Connecticut, running now against both Lieberman and Lamont, has only 5% of the vote. Why?
12. The market recently bombed in Moscow is owned by Azerbaijani Jews. Was it an underworld bombing?
13. The two AIPAC officials accused of giving Israel confidential information. A recent court ruling has said that it must be shown that release of the information was against US interests (may not be able to be shown). The information was of the dangerous situation developing in Iran. Michael Berenbaum, in an op-ed piece, asks if their problem wasn't really that they were right, but too early, as the US government was still then in the mode of showing that Iraq, not Iran, was the bigger concern?
14. Reviews of two new books on the former Jewish community of Salonika, Greece, a major center of Jewish life for 400 years.
15. A fascinating new book on the history of various Hasidic leaders who broke away from the movement, committed suicide, converted, etc. The book is in Hebrew, written by the head of the Jewish history department at Tel Aviv University, and attempts to bring to light repressed information that has been distorted by both Hasidic historians and their non-Hasidic opponents. The book is being sold here only under the counter, and has created a firestorm of comment.
16. A list of 28 fiction books, set in Israel. Recommended reading. The books have been published over the past 30 years or so.
17. An article about Lorenzo da Ponte, librettisist for Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, and Don Giovanni. A fascinating story. Da Ponte is now the subject of an exhibit at Vienna's Jewish Museum.
And now Moment:
1. The War in Iraq. Good or bad for the Jews. (not very enlightening)
2. Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager. His story.
3. Conversos in Mexico. Fascinating.
4. Interesting article by Menachem Rosensaft, who learned of his mother's exploits during the Holocaust, after her death.
and more.
The Forward edition (August 25) was a very interesting one. Look at this.
1. Senator George Allen of VA is Jewish? (His mother, French-Tunisian, was undoubtedly Jewish by birth? She came from a long Portuguese Sephardic family. She could not be married in the Catholic Church (Allen's parents were married by a Justice of the Peace at a Jewish friend's house).
2. Should Israel (and the U.S.) start conversations with Syria? Pro: the Syrians are the gateway for Hezbollah arms into Lebanon. Pro: Hamas' home office is in Damascus. Con: there go the Golan Heights.
3. Are Israeli and American policies too much in lockstep, to the detriment of both?
4. What about Gunter Grass and his revelation that he was an SS member as a very young boy? Has he atoned through his writing (and in fact without this experience, would he have become the novelist he is, and concentrating on morals and ethics, as he has)? Or should the Nobel, or other prizes, be taken from him? Is he the prime example, and one of the last, of Germany coming to terms with its Nazi past?
5. Why is Chabad the first Jewish movement to open synagogues in fast growing, newer suburbs?
6. How about all the scandals hitting Israeli political and religious leaders? Mostly, they are personal (claims of sexual harrassment, etc, and include the president and the two chief rabbis)? Only one involves governmental activity, a claim of improper activity by Knesset member when he was in charge of the environmental policy of the country.
7. Dedication of Al Jolson Way on W 51st St in NYC.
8. Shaun Green, Jewish ball player, now a Met.
9. Is the push for inquiry of failures of the recent war in Lebanon too political to be counted on for reliable answers?
10. The Rabbinic Assembly (modern Orthodox rabbis in USA) put out a statement saying that Israel should not be so protective of civilians during war; clearly Hezbollah was not, and war is war, and Jewish law and tradition does not demand this care or concern. Yuck.
11. The Republican Jewish contender for senator in Connecticut, running now against both Lieberman and Lamont, has only 5% of the vote. Why?
12. The market recently bombed in Moscow is owned by Azerbaijani Jews. Was it an underworld bombing?
13. The two AIPAC officials accused of giving Israel confidential information. A recent court ruling has said that it must be shown that release of the information was against US interests (may not be able to be shown). The information was of the dangerous situation developing in Iran. Michael Berenbaum, in an op-ed piece, asks if their problem wasn't really that they were right, but too early, as the US government was still then in the mode of showing that Iraq, not Iran, was the bigger concern?
14. Reviews of two new books on the former Jewish community of Salonika, Greece, a major center of Jewish life for 400 years.
15. A fascinating new book on the history of various Hasidic leaders who broke away from the movement, committed suicide, converted, etc. The book is in Hebrew, written by the head of the Jewish history department at Tel Aviv University, and attempts to bring to light repressed information that has been distorted by both Hasidic historians and their non-Hasidic opponents. The book is being sold here only under the counter, and has created a firestorm of comment.
16. A list of 28 fiction books, set in Israel. Recommended reading. The books have been published over the past 30 years or so.
17. An article about Lorenzo da Ponte, librettisist for Marriage of Figaro, Cosi fan Tutte, and Don Giovanni. A fascinating story. Da Ponte is now the subject of an exhibit at Vienna's Jewish Museum.
And now Moment:
1. The War in Iraq. Good or bad for the Jews. (not very enlightening)
2. Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager. His story.
3. Conversos in Mexico. Fascinating.
4. Interesting article by Menachem Rosensaft, who learned of his mother's exploits during the Holocaust, after her death.
and more.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
A Rare Gift from CVS (7 cents)
I stopped at the Van Ness CVS store on the way to the office to pick up a small notebook, which was marked 89 cents. I took it to the register, the clerk (the sales associate? the partner?) put in a number and out popped 99 cents.
Obviously not a big difference, but I mentioned it and we went back to the shelf to see if I had read it correctly. 89 cents.
The store manager happened to be in the same aisle; she asked how she should handle this, since she had already rung up the sale (and I had already paid the 99 cents, along with 6 cents for the District), and he said: "Just give him back a quarter."
I said that the difference is only 10 cents, but the clerk said, "that's ok, take the quarter".
A rare gift from CVS.
Obviously not a big difference, but I mentioned it and we went back to the shelf to see if I had read it correctly. 89 cents.
The store manager happened to be in the same aisle; she asked how she should handle this, since she had already rung up the sale (and I had already paid the 99 cents, along with 6 cents for the District), and he said: "Just give him back a quarter."
I said that the difference is only 10 cents, but the clerk said, "that's ok, take the quarter".
A rare gift from CVS.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Don't lose your focus
Several years ago, during another D.C. mayoral primary campaign,, one of the second string candidates, who lived not far from us, was himself putting up posters on telephone poles. He came to the pole at our corner and I happened to be in the yard, and he came up to me and introduced himself and told me he was running for mayor. Of what city?, I asked. D.C., he said, looking at me as if I were a little dense. Then, pardon me, I said, why are you wearing that T-shirt that says "I Love Boston"?
Well tonight, at the forum for D.C. mayoral candidates at the DC JCC, we lingered a bit talking to friends. When we left, there was someone at the front door handing out brochures for Michael Brown. But in his other hand, he held a bag of two oranges, the gift (and campaign symbol) of candidate Vincent Orange.
We went to see the five primary candidates, because we did not know who to vote for. We still don't.
Adrian Fenty arrived an hour late and left an hour early. Council chair Linda Cropp left early, and arrived almost on time. Orange, Brown and Marie Johns stuck it out the hwole time, with Johns coming early enough to shmooze at the reception, Brown sticking around long enough to shake the hands of the lingerers, and Orange sticking around outside even longer, giving out oranges. "Please take them so they don't go to waste."
Who won the forum? Hard to say. Who lost it? Fenty. I think I am going to vote for Orange. Sure, sometimes he says a little too much, but I think he is bright, and appears dedicated, and I believe he understands the city's finances. My wife thinks I am nuts. But Oranges and nuts don't make a bad combination.
Of course, one of the winners will undoubtedly be Fenty or Cropp. Sorry, cannot vote for either one. Cropp has had too many high level positions (council chair, school board president) not to be part of the problem. Fenty is the Al D'Amato (Senator Pothole from New York) of Washington; he is apparently great on constituent service. But that does not translate, for a 35 year old, to being able to administer a city.
Or perhaps it is just that I cannot vote for a candidate who might win.
Mah Nishtanah ha-election hazeh mi-kol ha-elections?
Well tonight, at the forum for D.C. mayoral candidates at the DC JCC, we lingered a bit talking to friends. When we left, there was someone at the front door handing out brochures for Michael Brown. But in his other hand, he held a bag of two oranges, the gift (and campaign symbol) of candidate Vincent Orange.
We went to see the five primary candidates, because we did not know who to vote for. We still don't.
Adrian Fenty arrived an hour late and left an hour early. Council chair Linda Cropp left early, and arrived almost on time. Orange, Brown and Marie Johns stuck it out the hwole time, with Johns coming early enough to shmooze at the reception, Brown sticking around long enough to shake the hands of the lingerers, and Orange sticking around outside even longer, giving out oranges. "Please take them so they don't go to waste."
Who won the forum? Hard to say. Who lost it? Fenty. I think I am going to vote for Orange. Sure, sometimes he says a little too much, but I think he is bright, and appears dedicated, and I believe he understands the city's finances. My wife thinks I am nuts. But Oranges and nuts don't make a bad combination.
Of course, one of the winners will undoubtedly be Fenty or Cropp. Sorry, cannot vote for either one. Cropp has had too many high level positions (council chair, school board president) not to be part of the problem. Fenty is the Al D'Amato (Senator Pothole from New York) of Washington; he is apparently great on constituent service. But that does not translate, for a 35 year old, to being able to administer a city.
Or perhaps it is just that I cannot vote for a candidate who might win.
Mah Nishtanah ha-election hazeh mi-kol ha-elections?
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
fhgurytogjhwhtughks[-htf ee=a (90 cents)
You probably have already figured this out, but we spent yesterday at the National Cryptography Museum.
You find it off Maryland Rte 32, just before you get to Ft. Meade. It is on the grounds of NSA, the National Security Agency, which has quite a large set up, with glass office buildings (people who work in glass office buildings shouldn't throw stones) and parking lots and everything. With all that is there, you would think that they could accomplish a lot more than they seem to.
You know that you are in dangerous territory when you see three unmarked cars splayed across the road with uniformed be-rifled men staring at your and waving you to stop. He looked at me, and I at him. I blinked first and said: "We are going to the museum". He asked if we knew how to get there, and when we didn't he told us. Then he said, "let me see your driver's license". I got it out, held it to him, but not closely enough so he could possibly see it, he didn't write anything down, he just said OK, go on.
Now, I ask you, what was that about?
The museum has several rooms, and enough stuff in it for many more. It is crammed, walls floor to ceiling, cubicles, everywhere. It has some very interesting stuff, like an entire collection of German Enigma machines, and stuff about satellite spying, and encryptions done by Pitney Bowes on its postage machines, and how Japanese spies worked, and how they found out Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White and David Greenglass (and his sister, Ethel R.). Pictures of cryptographers (all very smart), Cray computers that took up rooms, Kremlin-White House hotline telephones. Everything. And a lot of words to explain it.
We had a docent tour. Our docent was formerly with SpecOps. He must have been about 80. (As we left, a friend of his came in the building and seemed very surprised to see him there. "I thought you only work Mondays", he said. Our guide was nonplussed, thinking that he was getting old and made a terrible mistake. It took them both some time to realize that it was Monday. I was not fooled; I knew all along.)
It's hard to explain our docent. It was like his speech was encrypted. The words were English, but I couldn't understand what he was saying half the time. Sentences seem to abruptly stop, many phrases to early. He would go from topic to topic, but appeared to think that he was staying right on point.
In fact, he was very much like a comic book character. "And the Japanese encryption was easy to break, and what then? WHAM!!" or "And you know what happened when they figured out where we were? WHOOSH! BAM! BLONG!" That sort of thing.
But how much of what we learned was true? These guys are taught to lie, right? For the sake of our country? Give out false information. That sort of thing.
Maybe nothing in the museum was accurate. Maybe those machines weren't Enigmas. Maybe "WHOOSH! BAM! BLONG!" really only means: read Arthurthinks.blogspot.com.
You find it off Maryland Rte 32, just before you get to Ft. Meade. It is on the grounds of NSA, the National Security Agency, which has quite a large set up, with glass office buildings (people who work in glass office buildings shouldn't throw stones) and parking lots and everything. With all that is there, you would think that they could accomplish a lot more than they seem to.
You know that you are in dangerous territory when you see three unmarked cars splayed across the road with uniformed be-rifled men staring at your and waving you to stop. He looked at me, and I at him. I blinked first and said: "We are going to the museum". He asked if we knew how to get there, and when we didn't he told us. Then he said, "let me see your driver's license". I got it out, held it to him, but not closely enough so he could possibly see it, he didn't write anything down, he just said OK, go on.
Now, I ask you, what was that about?
The museum has several rooms, and enough stuff in it for many more. It is crammed, walls floor to ceiling, cubicles, everywhere. It has some very interesting stuff, like an entire collection of German Enigma machines, and stuff about satellite spying, and encryptions done by Pitney Bowes on its postage machines, and how Japanese spies worked, and how they found out Alger Hiss and Harry Dexter White and David Greenglass (and his sister, Ethel R.). Pictures of cryptographers (all very smart), Cray computers that took up rooms, Kremlin-White House hotline telephones. Everything. And a lot of words to explain it.
We had a docent tour. Our docent was formerly with SpecOps. He must have been about 80. (As we left, a friend of his came in the building and seemed very surprised to see him there. "I thought you only work Mondays", he said. Our guide was nonplussed, thinking that he was getting old and made a terrible mistake. It took them both some time to realize that it was Monday. I was not fooled; I knew all along.)
It's hard to explain our docent. It was like his speech was encrypted. The words were English, but I couldn't understand what he was saying half the time. Sentences seem to abruptly stop, many phrases to early. He would go from topic to topic, but appeared to think that he was staying right on point.
In fact, he was very much like a comic book character. "And the Japanese encryption was easy to break, and what then? WHAM!!" or "And you know what happened when they figured out where we were? WHOOSH! BAM! BLONG!" That sort of thing.
But how much of what we learned was true? These guys are taught to lie, right? For the sake of our country? Give out false information. That sort of thing.
Maybe nothing in the museum was accurate. Maybe those machines weren't Enigmas. Maybe "WHOOSH! BAM! BLONG!" really only means: read Arthurthinks.blogspot.com.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Indian Food
Recently, I wrote about the excellent meal we had at Jyota in Adams Morgan. This evening, we found ourselves in Laurel MD at supper time, and stopped at India Gate, a restaurant in a small shopping center on Route 1. We knew nothing about the restaurant, but had a good feeling looking at its salmon and aqua interior.
We ordered fairly simply. Onion pakora and a Kingfisher to start. An okra dish and a mushroom dish, along with Roti to finish. The food was absolutely, just right. we would go back and, if it is as good the second time, keep going back.
The chef is from Punjab. The sign says that all the meet is hallal, although the restaurant seems Hindu, not Moslem. But they must know their target market.
Our waiter was from Nepal. He told us that everything in Nepal is OK, although some people don't like living in an absolute kingdom. But he says that the riots and occasional Maoist uprisings don't really affect normal life. I asked him when he was in Nepal last; he told me it has been about five years. He may go back soon for a visit he said, but (perhaps forgetting his conversation three minutes earlier) said that he hestitated to go now, with all the political problems. Why should he put himself in harm's way?
Go figure.
We ordered fairly simply. Onion pakora and a Kingfisher to start. An okra dish and a mushroom dish, along with Roti to finish. The food was absolutely, just right. we would go back and, if it is as good the second time, keep going back.
The chef is from Punjab. The sign says that all the meet is hallal, although the restaurant seems Hindu, not Moslem. But they must know their target market.
Our waiter was from Nepal. He told us that everything in Nepal is OK, although some people don't like living in an absolute kingdom. But he says that the riots and occasional Maoist uprisings don't really affect normal life. I asked him when he was in Nepal last; he told me it has been about five years. He may go back soon for a visit he said, but (perhaps forgetting his conversation three minutes earlier) said that he hestitated to go now, with all the political problems. Why should he put himself in harm's way?
Go figure.
More on Figaro
The Washington Times also gave the voices (and especially Susanna and the Countess) a good review, and I thought the reviewer had it right, when he said that the whole was less than the sum of its parts, and that he thought that the conductor did not have good control of the musicians or the stage. He thought more rehearsal would have helped. Perhaps
This past weekend.....
1. We had hoped to go away, but the weather report was unsettled, so we stayed put. The weather was beautiful.
2. We were at home most of Saturday as we were having our yard and garden cleaned and totally deweeded, ivy pulled from over our fences, and all sorts of other stuff in preparation for an outdoor re-do. It actually took 2 full days for a crew to do this and mulch and clean up. They did a terrific job.
3. Saturday night we had a light meal sitting outside at the Tavern on the Lake on Reston's Lake Anne. Very pleasant. Nice food.
4. Then we went to see 'The Marriage of Figaro' at Wolf Trap with friends, and we saw several others at the opera. It was the Wolf Trap Company. The voices were very good, but I felt there lacked the oomph and excitement the opera needed. I thought that might be because of where we were sitting (balcony, center, 9 rows back), or because the orchestra was not quite up to par (tempo was good, but it lacked something), or because the stage was too big for the opera, or the sets too weak. Today's Post review was very positive, agreeing with me that the two female leads, playing Susanna (Maureen McKay) and the Countess (Ailyn Perez) were the best. I thought Perez had the better sound, but McKay's voice was augmented by her superior acting and charisma. But I would not have rated the performance as highly as Stephen Brookes did. Although he agreed with me about the set: "looked like it was banged together from old building scraps, given a fresh coat of dirt, and...littered with department store closeout furniture."
5. Sunday was also pretty quiet. At 4:30 we left for Baltimore, where we took our 80+ year old friends to supper. They keep kosher, but said that they would order fish or vegetarian anywhere. They are getting a little slow, and I wanted to find a place that looked to be elderly-friendly, and I chose (from a drive by only) the Olive Branch, the restaurant of the Ramada Inn on Reisterstown Road, near the Beltway. It is very big, and very crowded (not just overnighters by far), but the menu turned out, for us, to be very limited as most things are served with shrimp. Like the salmon special: "it comes with linguini and shrimp. we can't do it any other way. it's a special". That kind of thing. As to the quality of what we ate. Not too high. I'd give it a C-.
2. We were at home most of Saturday as we were having our yard and garden cleaned and totally deweeded, ivy pulled from over our fences, and all sorts of other stuff in preparation for an outdoor re-do. It actually took 2 full days for a crew to do this and mulch and clean up. They did a terrific job.
3. Saturday night we had a light meal sitting outside at the Tavern on the Lake on Reston's Lake Anne. Very pleasant. Nice food.
4. Then we went to see 'The Marriage of Figaro' at Wolf Trap with friends, and we saw several others at the opera. It was the Wolf Trap Company. The voices were very good, but I felt there lacked the oomph and excitement the opera needed. I thought that might be because of where we were sitting (balcony, center, 9 rows back), or because the orchestra was not quite up to par (tempo was good, but it lacked something), or because the stage was too big for the opera, or the sets too weak. Today's Post review was very positive, agreeing with me that the two female leads, playing Susanna (Maureen McKay) and the Countess (Ailyn Perez) were the best. I thought Perez had the better sound, but McKay's voice was augmented by her superior acting and charisma. But I would not have rated the performance as highly as Stephen Brookes did. Although he agreed with me about the set: "looked like it was banged together from old building scraps, given a fresh coat of dirt, and...littered with department store closeout furniture."
5. Sunday was also pretty quiet. At 4:30 we left for Baltimore, where we took our 80+ year old friends to supper. They keep kosher, but said that they would order fish or vegetarian anywhere. They are getting a little slow, and I wanted to find a place that looked to be elderly-friendly, and I chose (from a drive by only) the Olive Branch, the restaurant of the Ramada Inn on Reisterstown Road, near the Beltway. It is very big, and very crowded (not just overnighters by far), but the menu turned out, for us, to be very limited as most things are served with shrimp. Like the salmon special: "it comes with linguini and shrimp. we can't do it any other way. it's a special". That kind of thing. As to the quality of what we ate. Not too high. I'd give it a C-.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
What happened at the Trover Shop?
No one, absolutely no one, asked! (Maybe you are all on vacation?)
Well here goes -
I walk into the Trover Shop on Capital Hill, something I have done maybe two times before in my life. It is a Tuesday and it is lunch time.
I look at the books on the shelf, and try to decide whether to by an autographed copy of Senator Ted Kennedy's new book. I decide against it.
A woman comes in the shop. She is dressed very well. I would guess her to be about 70. She walks with erect posture.
She goes to the counter and asks the salesman if he has a copy of A.A. Milne's 'Now We Are Six". He looks it up in his catalog and says that he does not, but could order it quickly. She says that would be fine.
He goes into his computer and asks whether she would want a soft cover copy or a hard cover copy. She asks the price difference. The hardcover is more than three times as expensive. She says: let's take the hardcover. My grandson will only be six one time.
You note that so far, everything is fine. Nothing annoying has happened.
The salesman goes back to the computer to start the order process. She looks straight ahead and without missing a beat starts reciting the book. From cover to (I assume) cover.
Like Homer reciting the Iliad, or a Moslem the Koran, she goes on and on and on. And the book is such nonsense, especially to hear on a Tuesday lunchtime at the Capitol Hill Trover Shop.
Now, aren't you sorry, you didn't ask?
Well here goes -
I walk into the Trover Shop on Capital Hill, something I have done maybe two times before in my life. It is a Tuesday and it is lunch time.
I look at the books on the shelf, and try to decide whether to by an autographed copy of Senator Ted Kennedy's new book. I decide against it.
A woman comes in the shop. She is dressed very well. I would guess her to be about 70. She walks with erect posture.
She goes to the counter and asks the salesman if he has a copy of A.A. Milne's 'Now We Are Six". He looks it up in his catalog and says that he does not, but could order it quickly. She says that would be fine.
He goes into his computer and asks whether she would want a soft cover copy or a hard cover copy. She asks the price difference. The hardcover is more than three times as expensive. She says: let's take the hardcover. My grandson will only be six one time.
You note that so far, everything is fine. Nothing annoying has happened.
The salesman goes back to the computer to start the order process. She looks straight ahead and without missing a beat starts reciting the book. From cover to (I assume) cover.
Like Homer reciting the Iliad, or a Moslem the Koran, she goes on and on and on. And the book is such nonsense, especially to hear on a Tuesday lunchtime at the Capitol Hill Trover Shop.
Now, aren't you sorry, you didn't ask?
Friday, August 18, 2006
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Little Miss Sunshine is a loser.
A Chevy Chase-like comedy about a little girl who wins a statewide and enters a national beauty/talent contest, and her talent (taught by her recently deceased raunchy grandfather) is strip tease.
It starts out very, very cute and funny and, after about twenty minutes, heads downhill very rapidly for the next hour and a half or so.
It is not at all worth seeing, EXCEPT FOR one extraordinary thing:
Uncle Frank, the suicidal Proust scholar, who joins our heroine's family to recover from his unsuccessful romance, is played by the same actor who played President Ahmadinajad on the Mike Wallace 60 Minutes interview!!!
No wonder, Iran is doing such a good media-relations job. Their president is a Hollywood supporting actor.
It starts out very, very cute and funny and, after about twenty minutes, heads downhill very rapidly for the next hour and a half or so.
It is not at all worth seeing, EXCEPT FOR one extraordinary thing:
Uncle Frank, the suicidal Proust scholar, who joins our heroine's family to recover from his unsuccessful romance, is played by the same actor who played President Ahmadinajad on the Mike Wallace 60 Minutes interview!!!
No wonder, Iran is doing such a good media-relations job. Their president is a Hollywood supporting actor.
We win, you lose
Back when the Vietnam war was going very badly, Senator Aiken of Vt. said "let's just call it a victory and pull our troops out." A good idea but it didn't work.
Hezbollah and Iran are rejoicing in the Hezbollah victory (so-called) in Lebanon, but unlike Senator Aiken, they appear to be unwilling to pull their troops out.
They in fact make much more sense. How do you celebrate a victory, and then retreat?
This war is not yet over.
Hezbollah and Iran are rejoicing in the Hezbollah victory (so-called) in Lebanon, but unlike Senator Aiken, they appear to be unwilling to pull their troops out.
They in fact make much more sense. How do you celebrate a victory, and then retreat?
This war is not yet over.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Ahmadinajad. By George, I got it (maybe) (10 cents)
Last night's TV was surreal. C-Span showed a rebroadcast of Sunday Night's 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace interviewing Ahmadinajad. The interview was about 30 minutes. Then, they showed the full interview (without cuts), which ran about 60 minutes. Then, they had a call in show, but only for a few minutes, where almost everyone seemed to think that Ahmadinajad seemed like an OK kind of guy ("even if I don't agree with what he says all the time'), but Mike Wallace was a boob. If this is not surreal, what is?
In the first place, Ahmadinajad is America's sworn enemy. But here is he having a almost friendly interview with Mike Wallace. Mike Wallace is 88 years old. Ok, so he looks 70, and is willing to fly to Tehran of all places to interview Ahmanijad. And they both sit there, and smile at each other. It doesn't make any difference what they were saying; the important thing is that they were smiling, and no one raised their voice (or even their eyebrows) and it looked like they were old buddies sitting around having a beer.
Now, when you are 88 years old, and have a yellow pad in front of you, and are in Iran, you don't need to be a brilliant questioner to get the red badge of courage. And, truth be told, Wallace's questions were not always on point, and his follow up, where it existed, was weak. I mean real weak, things like "are you being serious?". That is not good follow up.
And his interrogatoree was well prepared. He knew how many Americans were in prison and who lacked health insurance. He knew exactly how to sound like an American liberal.
Not where Israel is concerned of course. There he was adamant, but he had no solution. And the Israeli's? He likes them well enough, just not their government or their country. They can go somewhere else - like Europe or the USA. Just not on 'other peoples' land'.
He was good at finessing the embarassing questions, and the follow-ups let him escape with his finessing. It was a coup for the Iranian.
The C-Span callers also focused on Wallace's sometime petulance, and his treating Ahmadinajad rather informally. "I think he needs to be shown more respect; he is the president of their country." Come on, callers!! Show him respect? Surreal.
A lot will be written about this. The Wall Street Journal had a couple of good, and contrasting articles today, one concluding that Wallace did a good job, but that Ahmadinajad is just a media master. I think that is going too far. The other saying that Wallace did not ask the hard questions, and giving a list of them, mostly very specific ones about horrific happenings in the country.
That may be accurate, but it misses the point. This was not about substance. This was about 'getting the interview' (to paraphrase McLuan, the interview was the message) and secondly to entertain (both Wallace, a/k/a CBS, and the Iranian president wanted entertainment value, for their own purposes).
Ahmadinajad is a horrible person. Unfortunately, we will find that out more and more as time goes on. Hopefully, we will be able to do something about it. But it seems like many Americans won't believe that. Like Uncle Joe Stalin, and the early Adolph Hitler, too many of us will conclude that he can't be all bad, he even spends "quality time" with his three children.
In the first place, Ahmadinajad is America's sworn enemy. But here is he having a almost friendly interview with Mike Wallace. Mike Wallace is 88 years old. Ok, so he looks 70, and is willing to fly to Tehran of all places to interview Ahmanijad. And they both sit there, and smile at each other. It doesn't make any difference what they were saying; the important thing is that they were smiling, and no one raised their voice (or even their eyebrows) and it looked like they were old buddies sitting around having a beer.
Now, when you are 88 years old, and have a yellow pad in front of you, and are in Iran, you don't need to be a brilliant questioner to get the red badge of courage. And, truth be told, Wallace's questions were not always on point, and his follow up, where it existed, was weak. I mean real weak, things like "are you being serious?". That is not good follow up.
And his interrogatoree was well prepared. He knew how many Americans were in prison and who lacked health insurance. He knew exactly how to sound like an American liberal.
Not where Israel is concerned of course. There he was adamant, but he had no solution. And the Israeli's? He likes them well enough, just not their government or their country. They can go somewhere else - like Europe or the USA. Just not on 'other peoples' land'.
He was good at finessing the embarassing questions, and the follow-ups let him escape with his finessing. It was a coup for the Iranian.
The C-Span callers also focused on Wallace's sometime petulance, and his treating Ahmadinajad rather informally. "I think he needs to be shown more respect; he is the president of their country." Come on, callers!! Show him respect? Surreal.
A lot will be written about this. The Wall Street Journal had a couple of good, and contrasting articles today, one concluding that Wallace did a good job, but that Ahmadinajad is just a media master. I think that is going too far. The other saying that Wallace did not ask the hard questions, and giving a list of them, mostly very specific ones about horrific happenings in the country.
That may be accurate, but it misses the point. This was not about substance. This was about 'getting the interview' (to paraphrase McLuan, the interview was the message) and secondly to entertain (both Wallace, a/k/a CBS, and the Iranian president wanted entertainment value, for their own purposes).
Ahmadinajad is a horrible person. Unfortunately, we will find that out more and more as time goes on. Hopefully, we will be able to do something about it. But it seems like many Americans won't believe that. Like Uncle Joe Stalin, and the early Adolph Hitler, too many of us will conclude that he can't be all bad, he even spends "quality time" with his three children.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
It's Sunday night again
It just doesn't seem right that I have to go to work on Mondays, does it?
Saturday started off with a venture to the Aquatic Gardens on Kenilworth Avenue. In this unlikely spot exists perhaps the prettiest sight (site?) in the District of Columbia, the view of the Anacostia Marsh and River from the end of the Acquatic Gardens boardwalk. Saturday did not disappoint, and the two egrets sitting out on an island were a nice plus. Of course, before you get to the boardwalk, you must stroll through the lilly pads and lotus swamps. This is a good time of the year to see them in pretty full bloom; a few weeks ago might have been better. And, because the day was so nice, a third species was prevalent: the tripods, each with a camera on top, and a patient, laden down photographer in close contact. We went with our pocket digitals, and liked our pictures. Would they be that much better if we had all that equipment?
We then went to the memorial to those men who lost their lives on the Titanic in 1912, saving the lives of women and children. The Christ like figure on a pedestal was sponsored by the 'women of America'. It is located in Washington. Anyone know where?
We had lunch at W Domku. No, we did not take a commuter flight to Warsaw. W Domku is, of all places, on Upshur between 8th and 9th. An eclectic mixture of eastern European menu items, served in a modern, light filled, informal setting. We did not over order; everything was good. We would especially recomment the carrot/ginger soup (with a good tang of ginger) and the three kinds of herring, each one smoother than the other (that probably is a logical impossibility).
Supper was at RFK, where we went with our New York houseguests to see the Mets beat the Nats. The score was 6-4; could have just as easily been the other way.
Today started off with a nice walk (with a bagel and good cup of coffee at its northernmost end), and a romp in the garden (if you can call it that), where I pulled enough weeds to fill at least one Dempsey Dumpster. Then for the most part a quet day at home, where I got to work on some of my many projects, followed by a trip to the gym where, while on the cross trainer, I read the finals parts (well, OK, I finished it at home) of Erik Larson's "Isaac's Storm", a book that came out in 1999, and dealt with the hurricane/flood that hit Galveston Texas and killed over 3000 in 1900. It is a very well written book, and a very quick read, and tells you not only about the Galveston storm, but about others over the centuries that have created havoc around the world, and about the vagaries of weather forecasting and weather forecasting politics. Yes, there is such a thing, most notably that the United States, when it took Cuba from Spain, set up its own weather station in Havana, not wanting to rely on the much more proficient Cuba forecasters and, to show its superiority, forbade the Cubans from transmitting any forecasts to the states. American arrogance hasn't changed much, has it?
Saturday started off with a venture to the Aquatic Gardens on Kenilworth Avenue. In this unlikely spot exists perhaps the prettiest sight (site?) in the District of Columbia, the view of the Anacostia Marsh and River from the end of the Acquatic Gardens boardwalk. Saturday did not disappoint, and the two egrets sitting out on an island were a nice plus. Of course, before you get to the boardwalk, you must stroll through the lilly pads and lotus swamps. This is a good time of the year to see them in pretty full bloom; a few weeks ago might have been better. And, because the day was so nice, a third species was prevalent: the tripods, each with a camera on top, and a patient, laden down photographer in close contact. We went with our pocket digitals, and liked our pictures. Would they be that much better if we had all that equipment?
We then went to the memorial to those men who lost their lives on the Titanic in 1912, saving the lives of women and children. The Christ like figure on a pedestal was sponsored by the 'women of America'. It is located in Washington. Anyone know where?
We had lunch at W Domku. No, we did not take a commuter flight to Warsaw. W Domku is, of all places, on Upshur between 8th and 9th. An eclectic mixture of eastern European menu items, served in a modern, light filled, informal setting. We did not over order; everything was good. We would especially recomment the carrot/ginger soup (with a good tang of ginger) and the three kinds of herring, each one smoother than the other (that probably is a logical impossibility).
Supper was at RFK, where we went with our New York houseguests to see the Mets beat the Nats. The score was 6-4; could have just as easily been the other way.
Today started off with a nice walk (with a bagel and good cup of coffee at its northernmost end), and a romp in the garden (if you can call it that), where I pulled enough weeds to fill at least one Dempsey Dumpster. Then for the most part a quet day at home, where I got to work on some of my many projects, followed by a trip to the gym where, while on the cross trainer, I read the finals parts (well, OK, I finished it at home) of Erik Larson's "Isaac's Storm", a book that came out in 1999, and dealt with the hurricane/flood that hit Galveston Texas and killed over 3000 in 1900. It is a very well written book, and a very quick read, and tells you not only about the Galveston storm, but about others over the centuries that have created havoc around the world, and about the vagaries of weather forecasting and weather forecasting politics. Yes, there is such a thing, most notably that the United States, when it took Cuba from Spain, set up its own weather station in Havana, not wanting to rely on the much more proficient Cuba forecasters and, to show its superiority, forbade the Cubans from transmitting any forecasts to the states. American arrogance hasn't changed much, has it?
Friday, August 11, 2006
The Appearance of Janey Jones (ten cents)
Well, the name of the play is "The Disappearance of Janey Jones", but for us, since we had not seen it previously, it was more an appearance, than the opposite. Hannah was the dramaturg on this new play by young playwright Jennifer Fawcett, a graduate playwriting student at the University of Iowa. It is being performed 6 times at the Hatchery Festival (hatching new playwrights) at the D.C. Arts Center in Adams Morgan. It opened last night.
I did not know what to expect, since this is clearly a low budget operation, and not one that is very well known. The small black box theater was sold out (which surprised me) but it was the one act, 90 minute play that surprised me more. A grandmother who struggles with bipolarity for most of her life, a granddaughter with the same "disease" or "problem" (depending on which character is describing it) and a mother in the middle, who is just fed up. The granddaughter is 28, but her 8 year old self is also a character in the play, and they come in contact with each other (sharing the same room as they do, as well as the same mother and grandmother). "I don't want to grow up like you" says that 8 year old; "but you will" says her 28 year old self.
Moving back and forth generation to generation, sometimes with two time periods existing not parallel to each other but in synchronicity with each other.
Very well acted, especially the grandmother (who in real life is probably 28) and the 8 year old (who is also about the same age). In fact, the entire cast seemed to be about 28. And the entire audience.
Before the show, we had supper at Jyota, the Indian restaurant in Adams Morgan, which I have used quite often as a carry out restaurant. The owner/my friend was not there (perhaps on vacation), and the food (tanduri salmon, lamb something, black lentil dal, and eggplant (made from peeled eggplants and much milder than most Indian eggplant dishes). It was very, very good. Each and every dish.
I did not know what to expect, since this is clearly a low budget operation, and not one that is very well known. The small black box theater was sold out (which surprised me) but it was the one act, 90 minute play that surprised me more. A grandmother who struggles with bipolarity for most of her life, a granddaughter with the same "disease" or "problem" (depending on which character is describing it) and a mother in the middle, who is just fed up. The granddaughter is 28, but her 8 year old self is also a character in the play, and they come in contact with each other (sharing the same room as they do, as well as the same mother and grandmother). "I don't want to grow up like you" says that 8 year old; "but you will" says her 28 year old self.
Moving back and forth generation to generation, sometimes with two time periods existing not parallel to each other but in synchronicity with each other.
Very well acted, especially the grandmother (who in real life is probably 28) and the 8 year old (who is also about the same age). In fact, the entire cast seemed to be about 28. And the entire audience.
Before the show, we had supper at Jyota, the Indian restaurant in Adams Morgan, which I have used quite often as a carry out restaurant. The owner/my friend was not there (perhaps on vacation), and the food (tanduri salmon, lamb something, black lentil dal, and eggplant (made from peeled eggplants and much milder than most Indian eggplant dishes). It was very, very good. Each and every dish.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
I Quit (1 cent)
I quit reading Anita Desai's "Journey to Ithaca" and I quit reading Virginia Dawson and Betty Wilson's "The Shape of Sunday".
So what are you gonna do about it?
So what are you gonna do about it?
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Blackie/Black's (five cents)
It used to be Blackie Auger who had a group of restaurants around town, the most significant being Blackie's on 22nd Street NW. Blackies closed last year.
Now it is Blacks. (I am not sure if there is a Mr. or Ms. Black). They have a restaurant in Rockville, one in Garrett Park, one on McArthur in NW DC, and now a recently remodeled Blacks in Bethesda, where we ate last night.
Absolutely first class.
And, although I don't usually say this: don't skip the deserts. (I had a cherry dessert, which had fresh cherries, cherry sorbet, a cherry cake, a cherry flan, and some sugary wafers; and it was not too much).
It was a birthday dinner for Michelle.
Now it is Blacks. (I am not sure if there is a Mr. or Ms. Black). They have a restaurant in Rockville, one in Garrett Park, one on McArthur in NW DC, and now a recently remodeled Blacks in Bethesda, where we ate last night.
Absolutely first class.
And, although I don't usually say this: don't skip the deserts. (I had a cherry dessert, which had fresh cherries, cherry sorbet, a cherry cake, a cherry flan, and some sugary wafers; and it was not too much).
It was a birthday dinner for Michelle.
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