That’s Entertainment: Child Molestation, Genocide and Abortion
As if unemployment isn’t depressing enough, try ducking into a movie theater for a matinee to escape your problems for a couple hours. It’s awards season, so Hollywood and Indiewood trot out their “issues” pictures and tearjerkers. A few weeks ago, Alan Amalgamated and I had to walk clear across town to avoid cinematic child molestation, genocide, abortion and assisted suicide in search of a few laughs. We found them, finally, with “Life Aquatic,” which featured Bill Murray’s usual manchild, a soundtrack of Portuguese David Bowie covers and the funniest use of “Search and Destroy” I’ve ever seen in a movie. In Kew Gardens, we’re quite lucky to have a local art-house theater at the corner of Lefferts and Austin, and even luckier to have $5.50 tickets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, being an art-house, it’s more prone to weepy winter syndrome than most theaters. The other customers must love […]
Recipe: Steamed Salmon with Honey Sauce
Salmon is a great fish. Cheap and plentiful if farm-raised, it doesn’t have a very strong “fishy” flavor. In fact, it’s very good at absorbing flavors, which is what makes steaming it so much fun. You can experiment with all sorts of liquids. I find that sherry gives the salmon a pleasant sweetness. I have a bit of a sweet tooth, so this recipe is a bit like candy. If you want to eat more like an adult, there are simple modifications that you can make to this recipe that suggest themselves. Ingredients: 1 lbs of Salmon fillets 1 and 3/4 cups Sherry 3 tablespoons Pecans 1 tablespoon of butter 1/4 cup of Honey Dash of Paprika 1. Slice the salmon filets into strips that are no thicker than 1 and 1/2 inch. Brush the scaly bottom of the filets with olive oil. This won’t necessarily prevent the fish from […]
Trainspotting
I don’t know when or how I became a trainspotter. I just find myself walking through the older neighborhood to my south, Richmond Hill, to clear my head and wait for the odd train to pass by. Richmond Hill was established in the late-19th century to be “country homes” for New York commuters. Eventually, the rest of the city grew out around the neighborhood, which simply became a part of New York City, although a distinctive part. The neighborhood has grand architecture, including its own Carnegie Library, a landmark RKO movie palace and lots of faded glory Victorian mansions. In the heart of the neighborhood is a dead train station. The LIRR’s Montauk train line snakes through the neighborhood. It’s an overpass at Lefferts Blvd. that ducks under the elevated J train. It’s a dead end of many residential blocks. It’s two lonely non-electrified tracks that wind through a valley […]
Valentine’s Day Blunder
Mike Bloomberg’s missing a real opportunity. On Friday, a New York State judge ruled that the state constitution, which places a much heavier emphasis on equal protection and civil rights than the United States Constitution, should be read as to allow same-sex marriage. Licenses for such same sex marriages could have been issued as early as tomorrow, if Mayor Bloomberg hadn’t announced that the city intends to appeal the decision to the state’s Court of Appeals. Bloomberg, who made a point of announcing his personal support for gay marriage, said he wanted to make sure that the decision was supported by the state’s highest court as soon as possible. In fact, he is trying to have it both ways. He is trying to be pro-gay marriage for New York’s generally liberal general election voters, and anti-gay marriage for voters in the Republican primary, where he faces a real challenge from […]
Recipe: Crab-stuffed Mushrooms
I had a taste of this dish at a restaurant in Washington’s Dupont Circle. I’ve ordered it at a few other restaurants, but found the quality to vary wildly (One diner in the West Village, which shall remain nameless, served up a hash of white button mushrooms and imitation crabmeat). I decided to take a crack at the dish myself. I thought it was promising enough to memorialize the recipe here for future experimentation. Ingredients: 8 ounces of lump crabmeat (I found a can of Phillips brand crabmeat for $6; usually this will cost upwards of $10) 4 Portobello caps (No more than 3 inches in diameter) 1 small green pepper (I only used about 2 tablespoons of chopped pepper) 1 celery stalk 2 slices of bread 3 cloves of garlic 1 shallot Olive oil Small jar of alfredo sauce (Do yourself a favor and use light alfredo sauce) 1. […]
The Milton Friedman Memorial Bridge, Sponsored by Exxon
The roads are for sale. So are the bridges, and, for the right price, the ground underneath us. New York Gov. George Pataki is seriously proposing selling or leasing the Tappan Zee Bridge and the New York State Thruway for a one-time infusion of cash into the state budget. The buyers, of course, would be able to charge tolls for the life of the lease, or longer. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, whose Chairman, Peter S. Kalikow, held a press conference not too long ago to decry the state’s and city’s refusal to raise taxes or issue bonds to not only pay for basic maintenance (Welcome back, C train!) but to fund the expansion projects that are desperately needed (2nd Avenue subway, East side LIRR access, etc.), is also exploring the yard sale option. The 2nd Avenue subway, which has been no more than a hole in the ground for the […]
“Run for the shadows in these golden years…”
Now begins perhaps the biggest fight long-planned by the “Republican Revolution.” With his re-election and substantial majorities in both houses of Congress, not to mention a majority of states’ governors, Bush has more clout and more power than any Republican has had since Theodore Roosevelt. Social Security pisses off free market Republicans because it is one social welfare policy of the government that remains massively popular, despite 25 years “big, bad government” rhetoric. Of course, Bush is willing to risk his legacy over this fight. After Social Security goes the minimum wage, the rest of our Pell grants, Roe vs. Wade… They really aim to repeal the twentieth century. The plan, of course, reduces guaranteed benefits for future retirees. Workers can divert up to 4% of their payroll taxes to a limited number of government-chosen mutual funds, and, at retirement, must divert some of their money into an annuity which […]
Hey, Where’s Tommy?
I saw Tommy Stinson at the Mercury Lounge last Saturday. A legend at 15, Tommy was the bass player for the late, lamented Replacements. He had a couple of promising bands in the 1990’s done in by corporate indifference. He wound up, of all places, as a well compensated side-man in the new Guns-n-Roses. Contrary to reports, he hasn’t left. Being in Axl Roses’s new Guns is a lot like being in the National Guard these days; you can be called up at any time, and your tour of duty might never end. There was something a bit dispiriting about watching Tommy go through all the rock star moves in support of his pretty decent new solo record at the tiny Mercury. He may be a legend, but it’s because of his mis-spent youth playing Robin to Paul Westerberg’s Batman. But the guy could have been a rock legend in […]
Thinking Positively About Iraq’s Election
Just before the Iraqi election, the People’s Weekly World published a refreshingly even handed editorial that suggested that there are “no simple answers for the U.S. left” when it comes to our response. Now that the election is over, many on the left will criticise the new transitional national assembly as a puppet government of U.S. interests, lacking a clear mandate. But, to the surprise of many of us, a majority of eligible voters turned out to the polls, which is better turn-out than most U.S. congressional elections (and we don’t have to avoid machine gun fire, just the occasional police roadblock). This provides a real opening for us to get the hell out of there. It is up to Iraq’s new assembly to demonstrate its independence from its occupied forces. They can cancel Paul Bremmer’s sweetheart contracts with Halliburton and other corporate plunderers. They can nationalize Iraq’s oil resources. […]