Category: Manhattan

Chilly October

Amy Tan gets braised in San Francisco (rather than roasted).

Mark Bittman with a bak choy with shittake and oyster sauce recipe. The video was also a good watch; seems simple. I’m not into mushrooms, but the oyster sauce – well, that’s brown sauce that’s good for something anyway.

Fascinating story about Tom Dunn, a lawyer who turns to teaching kids, when he couldn’t continue his criminal defense work due to a health condition.

There’s hope yet that we can save the earth with better thinking about our garbage – recycle and make less waste and so on. A huge “maybe” of course.

Didn’t make it to Homecoming this year, but – despite the loss – I think hope still springs eternal for Alma Mater.

Some NYC items:

Living in Hudson Heights (which seems to be somewhere south of Inwood and north or west of Washington Heights).

“When Love is a Schlep” – when singles in the city have to resort to relying on mass transit and the far distances of the outer boroughs (well, true, it isn’t that easy).

Sports radio fans: Mike and the Mad Dog were actually back together (scroll down to Mike and the Mad Dog reunion to listen to it on wfan.com), on Friday, 10/16/09, at the Yankee Stadium playoff opener – however brief a reunion). Well, guess only the Yankees can do that: creating reunions for people’s enjoyment.

I’m behind on “Law & Order” (insert teeth gnashing) – but here’s two of the three on the Law side to give us a peak on what goes on in the behind-the-scenes (Linus Roache in his real accent):

Oh, I just adore the current NYS Lotto “Sweet Millions” ad campaign. The commercials (see below) are so adorable, and the posters of the furry animals are soooo swweeeet!

Columbus Day 2009

Happy Anniversary to FC and P!

Sunday: tried to do Open House New York; ended up ambling around town.

For Open House NY: briefly checked out the Grand Lodge and Masonic Hall.

Prior to that: brunch at Craftbar (no sighting of owner Tom Colicchio) – tasty.

Afterward: Highline Park – can’t get over how cool a place it is. Checked out Chelsea Market.

Did not get to partake in the (Food Network) Wine and Food Festival
 – but pretty sure I saw Masaharu Morimoto walking around (it sure looked like him, complete with an entourage surrounding him).

Jaw-dropping: ex-lawyer reads a book a day for a year. As Peter Applebome noted, “by necessity,” Nina Sankovitch reads books of 250 to 300 pages or less. But, still – jaw-dropping.

My usual MTA rant: uh, right, you guys really care about customer service. The increasing removal of staff at subway stations (causing annoyance, if not fear) and the shoddy weekend service.

I’m amazed that the media reports this as if this were such a surprise; MTA needs to do a better job of giving notice of service detours – simply posting the posters (at non-obvious locations) and posting on mta.info or text messages (which not everyone – not tourists, certainly, or others have access at all times) are not sufficient. The local television stations should try to be more helpful in getting the notice out.

Plus, the F train isn’t that helpful.

Obama’s speeches are apparently helping non-English speakers learn English.

Clearly, I have nothing better to do, but to post this:

Midweek

Judge Denny Chin nominated for 2nd Circuit! Angry Asian Man posts his comment on it (which includes the White House press release).

Open House New York, this weekend!

The radio transition in NYC on Thursday night, 8pm – WQXR signing off to a new channel, with farewell from the NY Times, as it’s about to be no longer the NY Times station. Stay tuned.

Fascinating excerpt in Daily News of Soledad O’Brien and her Long Island childhood – and how it was hard to fit in as someone who did not fit in the white majority (but tried to be as Long Island as she could anyway), until she discovered the wider world.

Fascinating story on the family tree of Michelle Obama, highlighting how rich and complex that is American history and the American identity.

Food stuff:

Fried chicken’s now the trend, regardless of regional or national origins. Mmm. Fried chicken.

NY Times’ Joan Nathan on a Jewish Canadian, David Sax, whose book “Save the Deli” – based on his blog – covers the subject of the delis and Jewish cuisine. Fascinating stuff on what transitions and assimilation – and food – work together.

Behind on tv viewing. Argh.