Author's posts
Mar 19 2010
“You Don’t Have to be Jewish…”
Just a little off beat Big Apple history that I wrote for La Vita Locavore after reading a rye bread recipe.
After an enjoyable read of a Special Wednesday Edition of Sunday Bread- NY Rye I started thinking about just how such an Old World staple got identified as “good Jewish or New York style Rye”. New York claims many foods that were not invented in the Big Apple but rye bread is really about as European as it gets.
Not only is rye the most popular type of bread in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Poland, Slovakia, and Russia, it has been a staple since long before the discovery of the Americas. In a bread timeline, dark rye even made it to the British Islands as early as 500 AD. “Since the Middle Ages, rye has been widely cultivated in Central and Eastern Europe, and is the main bread cereal in most areas east of the French-German border and north of Hungary.” A year and two days ago I wrote a cute little diary called The Irish and Our Potatoes that mentioned the Holy Roman Empire being upset when those first Spanish explorers came back with starchy spuds to compete with the Staff of Life. By that time the “Body of Christ” being threatened by the lowly potato was mostly rye bread.
I remember a time when rye bread didn’t seem the least bit Jewish. It didn’t even seem like New York bread because I walked to either the French or the German Bakery, watched the fresh bread go through the automatic slicer and always ate both ends as I walked home. I remember when rye bread began an association with the Brooklyn Jewish community and it is a cute story, a progressive story even.
Rye bread going Jewish had much more to do with Madison Ave. than Flatbush Ave. It was and still is an advertisement. Rye bread is a New York City tourist attraction. The Stage Deli advertises their slogan next to a mile high fresser in the hotel magazines.
At the competition, the late great Leo Steiner, co-owner of the Carnegie Deli, the corned beef cornball comedian and the public face of Jewish food who was was eulogized by Henny Youngman as “the deli lama” and a man who “made New York taste good,” appeared in one of the great New York nostalgia commercials. In that television commercial, from behind the Carnegie counter Leo Steiner sold Levi’s Real Jewish Rye by saying in an accent that would make Jackie Mason jealous “It makes a nice samwich.” Perhaps that is why Jackie Mason defected in the 7th Ave. Pastrami Feud.
This story of progressive advertising began long before the Carnegie vs. Stage wars, back in the days when Leo Steiner was still working in his parents’ grocery store in Elizabeth, N.J. It was in 1961 when rye bread converted to Judaism.
Mar 13 2010
Photographs and Memories: Going Back to the 1964-65 World’s Fair
Note: This being the anniversary of one of the best walks I’ve ever taken, I’ve decided to rework and re-post this essay , the second most popular piece I’ve ever written. Is is cross-posted at Firefly-Dreaming, La Vita Locavore and Progressive Blue.
Some things change. Some things, they stay the same. Time takes its toll but every now an then you can go back. On March 12, 2009 I went back to see what I could find from my childhood. I guess the reason I went was because another relic of that fair died that week when they pulled down the last tower of Shea Stadium. Many fond memories went down that day. One was from 1969 and another from 1986. Here let Louie Armstrong take you through a few stills from 1964.
There is a World’s Fair Stadium that is still standing. Did you know that Louis Armstrong Stadium, the main stadium of the U.S. Open until 1997 was the Singer Bowl during the World’s Fair? Singer as in sewing machines, which were a big deal in the 1960’s, so was the I.L.G.W.U.
There are still many fond memories to be found in the largest park in Queens. There were also a few questions about present day politics that were answered by looking back. May I suggest that you watch the video above for a look back and then come below the fold to see a few not old photos and a little of my history below.
Mar 11 2010
Cost Containment and Trust in “Bipartisan Reform”
Posted at Progressive Blue
If the hearing word bipartisan makes you want to commit senseless acts of violence, chances are that you are probably one of those pacifist liberals. Just like so many words in American politics, bipartisan no longer means what we think it means. It would also seem that “progressive action” has come to mean being in the constant state of erasing lines in the sand.
All this time so many Democratic supporters were thinking that Social Security and Medicare represented the backbone of the Party of FDR but in the spirit of bipartisanship our Democratic president recently appointed a Republican as the chairman of the euphemistically named National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. That way the former Republican Senator from Wyoming can “save” the United States from “insolvency” by hacking away at Social Security and Medicare.
Now I’m feeling a bit naive because working to get Barack Obama elected, I was under the impression that health care reform was about a government run insurance option to keep the murder by spreadsheet gang honest. I was optimistically thinking that “no mandates” meant Americans would not be mandated into supporting Wall St. dividends. There was the “Hope” that Obama’s only mandate was mandating quality health coverage. I had this odd notion that there would be no back room deals with special interest groups and Americans would get drug price controls. I seem to remember that the Republican candidate wanted to do away with the tax exempt status of employee contributions and that Barack Obama was going to repeal Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, using that money to pay for health care reform.
Yesterday there was this story by James Ridgeway and he seems to have understood what to expect from the beginning. It really helps to redefine bipartisanship and understand where progress will be going under “bipartisan Democrats.”
Mar 09 2010
What about an added sweetener tax instead?
Once again the debate over a “soda tax” is going strong here in New York and throughout the entire nation. The pros and cons of this tax are complicated but something needs to be done. Except what is being floated around here and by many governments in a nation of drinkable disasters is really both a natural sweetener tax and a promotion of artificial sweeteners.
The embattled Governor David Paterson proposed it last year as an “Obesity Tax” before public outcry temporally crushed it. The outcry was over this tax being a regressive tax that poor people would be forced to pay with little thought about parents telling their children “No you cannot have 87¢ for a Coke but you can have 75¢ for a Diet Coke.” When diet sodas are exempt, since budget conscious shoppers will find drinks with artificial sweeteners and other chemicals to be money saving choices, it translates to government preaching better living through chemicals.
This tax seemed dead until Michael Bloomberg began presenting it as what it really is, an income generator. Now with Bloomberg’s endorsement this tax is getting the “full court press” again and Paterson is holding multiple meeting on taxing sugary drinks. Meanwhile there are dueling TV ads here now but little thought about what is being taxed to curtail empty calories through a straw. In this battle of interest groups is anyone actually thinking?
Mar 06 2010
Friday Evening Photoblogging: Needle Park Edition
This dairy that is cross-posted at Firefly-Dreaming and Progressive Blue was my 400th diary at Dkos. I was working on an enormous diary about orchid photos to celebrate the Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden but it got too complicated to finish in one afternoon, so I posted photos from my morning.
I do have an very informative diary here that is an update of last years show and here is one from next week’s attempt.
Anyway below the fold is just a little morning walk with my camera. I hope you enjoy them.
Mar 05 2010
A Fabulous Radio Interview on Food Issues
Cross-posted from Progressive Blue with a similar diary at La Vita Locavore.
Have you ever listened to the Leonard Lopate Show? Yesterday I was thinking that a few minutes was almost as informative for me as my long weekend spent at Slow Food Nation. But that probably had a lot to do with Leonard Lopate. He is like the Bill Moyers of NYC radio and he is great with food issues. I think his number one guest is Michael Pollan and the number two slot probably belongs to Eric Schlosser.
Leonard’s guest yesterday was David Kirby who two days ago posted a very informative 6 Baby Steps Toward a More Sustainable Animal Diet and his book Animal Factory: The Looming Threat of Industrial Pig, Dairy, and Poultry Farms to Humans and the Environment has been getting a lot of attention.
If you can find the time, here is the interview page (where you can leave comments) and here is the audio;
In the interview Mr. Kirby sums up industrial farming and the broken American food system with a vivid description of the conditions he has witnessed as an investigative reporter. One of the hazards of his work being manure flu. He points to the contamination caused to our air, land, water, and ourselves by factory farms. Did you know that MRSA kills more Americans today than AIDS?
They discuss the many people who are fighting to restore sustainable farming practices and some of the reasons our elected officials seem so powerless, those powerful business interests behind large-scale factory farms. But he is far from pessimistic, some stalls and some signs of progress while stressing that we need to do more than vote with our forks. We need to stay on top of elected officials with constant letter.
In the last exchange about Blanche Lincoln’s bill that is intended to put manure spills on par with rainfall for corporate farms, Leonard Lopate pointed out “And She’s a Democrat!” David Kirby sarcastic reply “Barely.” If David Kirby writes as well as he speaks, I’ve got to read “Animal Factory.”
Mar 04 2010
A Really Silly Diary
Usually I don’t do silly but my copy of the Daily News today has me in stitches. The ‘Topless’ snow lady in New Jersey was finally covered up after getting some frosty looks.
Who did these crazy people from Rahway, N.J think they were? You can’t show a naked lady in a family community.
Finally after a visit from Rahway’s Finest, justice was served. I love the fact that after the neighbor harassment that the cops had a hard time taking seriously, the creators of the naked snowlady picked a bikini top and sarong to mask their crime.
Sometimes art can be so ephemeral.
By Monday, warmer weather had melted the snowlady from a D cup to a C cup and it was taken down.
But the story is a keeper. The Daily News story was pretty good and made all the points I would. I guess kids in Rahway will need to wait until their twenty-first birthday for a visit to the Metropolitan Museum.
Feb 23 2010
The Bronx Invasion of Brazil. On Friday We Take Cuba!
Cross Posted at Daily Kos, Firefly-Dreaming, La Vita Locavore and Progressive Blue.
No more snow job photo diaries out of me. Since it is midwinter and everyone can use a little break from the cold, I think a little Brazilian Modern is in order.
How about you? Join me below for more photos and see an amateur review of my South American trip from last year.
Feb 22 2010
Senate HCR and the Continuing Support of Labor Unions
Cross-posted at Progressive Blue.
It’s the same old story. Another slap in the face to both organized labor and the entire middle class as both Craig Becker and the National Labor Relations Board are in limbo. Harry Reid called for recess appointments, The AFL-CIO sprang into action and the president’s response is limbo continued. There is nothing this Democratic president can do for such close allies? As workers are wondering if a functioning NLRB is being saved for October of 2012 this all seems so 1994. But top that off with Obama’s lust for the HCR excise tax and it gets so much worse.
In the debate over the finance of health insurance expansion it would be worth noting that the wealthy who voted for Barack Obama and supported the Democratic party fully expected that healthcare reform would be financed by a roll back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 per year. The union members who voted for, stuffed envelopes, reached into their pockets an organized fundraisers, were under the impression that they would see some much needed advancement from a Democratic president after eight years of Bush.
By now most progressive bloggers have moved way beyond these workers who have been losing ground since the 1970’s. It has been rationalized to death so everyone could move on to the next action, followed by the next capitulation, followed by the next wild goose chase towards progress. Come November blue collar workers, like Massachusetts voters recently, might end up being framed as stupid for protecting themselves from harm.
Distrust for government seems to work for Republicans, not for Democrats. As the public option is being presented once again, probably another carrot on a string, a deeper look at this excise tax that will live in the memories of workers for many years is in order. How much trust will be left between the workers and Democratic leadership once this excise tax becomes law and in years to come?
Feb 20 2010
New Title: Ft. Tryon Park in Snow with Tourist Update.
Cross-posted at Daily Kos.
Welcome to a new but old series that is all about photography. Do you have any photos or information about photography to share?
Yesterday’s diary was about snow pictures on a perfect blue sky day in Van Cortlandt Park. Tonight’s represents something a bit more challenging, trying to capture the snow as it is falling.
It’s not so easy and I really should have worn a hat and some gloves.
So if your in the mood for another snowy park, than take a walk below the fold for a park in a blizzard.
Feb 19 2010
Van Cortlandt Park After the Snow
Good evening this is my second installment in an attempt to get a regular series started called Friday Evening Photoblogging. Cross-posted at Progressive Blue, La Vita Locavore and Firefly Dreaming, it is based but different from a posting from last week at DKos.
I often write about and I’m very much in love with the undeveloped parts of Van Cortlandt Park. It is the fourth largest park in New York City and just a few blocks from my apartment. I guess the most popular diary so far was called Just a Walk in the Park, Van Cortlandt Park.
Few Manhattanites know of the beauty of this 1,146 acre park located in the Bronx but this New York City oasis should be of special interest to visitors from drier areas of the nation. The green will just blow you away.
You won’t find much green in this diary that focuses on photographic composition but I found a little color to make it interesting. In this photo the underpass leads to the Van Cortland marsh where the story ends. An old bridge from the the abandoned “Old Putt” and an oak tree that likes to hold a few leaves each winter improves the composition.
“Old Putt” is the affectionate nickname that hikers and cross country bikers have given to the New York and Putnam Railroad. The right of way for the railroad bed is a trail that runs the length of the park and passes through almost every type of ecosystem that can be found in the northeast.
Below the fold are the best of the 465 pictures I took last Thursday. Most of them on the Van Cortlandt Lake and surrounding wetlands of the Bronx park. Mostly they are photos of geese but I experimented with ways to defeat the the most annoying property of snow, monochromatic and way too bright.