songbird's crazy world

1975.  NYC was in crisis and in need of a bailout by the federal government.  The federal government refused to give financial assitance to the city.  An iconic headline was born. And you could read all about it for $.15! Here's the story. FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD: President's snub inspired, not discouraged, ex-Gov. Hugh Carey By Reuven Blau / DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU Monday, August 8, 2011, 4:00 AM Felix Rohatyn , the financier who helped Hugh Carey save New York from bankruptcy, was at Elaine's with the governor when someone walked in with the first edition of the next day's Daily News. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ford-city-drop-dead-president-snub-inspired-discouraged-ex-gov-hugh-carey-article-1.947295#ixzz2rp3Fjcnc FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD, the paper said, in what became an iconic headline. It was Oct. 29, 1975, and President Ford had just nixed a bailout for the city. ...

So last night we saw Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden. He's doing a residency at the Garden, one concert each month from now until whenever. We sat behind the stage, in nosebleed territory. It was the best I could do from Ticketmaster. In hindsight we should have bought better seats from Stub Hub. The folks in our section . . .if you're going to drink that much beer, maybe you should pick an aisle seat so you don't keep stepping over other people. If you leave your beer on the steps in the aisle, don't be surprised if someone kicks it over. And if you want to take a selfie, that's fine, but don't let the flash blind the people behind you. And I am not crazy about the MSG makeover. The new box seats. . .those of us in the bleachers are lucky we are not claustrophobic. Food choices in our section were limited. We wound up with hot dogs. The opening act was . . . Meh. First song was decent, last song ok, but everything in between - including th...

The polar vortex is not going to ruin our good time! Tonight we ventured out, into the cold and snow, and made our way to the local movie theater to see "Her". It's a sappy, bittersweet relationship story with a science fiction premise. The protagonist falls in love with his computer operating system, or rather, the artificial intelligence behind the operating system. The movie has a lot to say about relationships, especially about our relationships with our computers versus real humans. It's a bit too long, got a little boring in the middle, but overall I liked it. Dinner afterwards at the Empress Diner. The decor is very retro, what in the 1960's would have been called "modern". Lots of burnt orange . . . The menu here is somewhat limited in comparison to other local diners, but the food is excellent. We ordered burgers, which came with huge servings of cole slaw and pickles. Both burgers and buns were nicely grilled. French fries were crisp a...

No, I'm not a football fan.  But I'm still getting caught up in the excitement.  The game will be played on February 2 in Metlife Stadium.  But most of the pregame excitement will take place on this side of the Hudson, in NYC.  There will be fireworks over the Hudson Monday night.  Broadway has modified its schedule for next weekend, with most shows going dark Sunday night, and  added performances Friday and Saturday.  You can't walk through Penn Station without seeing the huge Pepsi/Superbowl ads. People in my office are a bit excited, the Denver Broncos are staying at the Hyatt in Jersey City, just across the street from our offices.  The Seattle Seahawks are also in Jersey City, but at the Weston, a mile or so away from  our offices. The weather is becoming a concern, with the polar vortex bringing extreme cold and high amounts of snow.  No, I don't plan to watch the game.  Maybe the halftime show, but as I said, I'm not ...

Well, the good news is that the producer will allow us to exchange the Matilda tickets. Now I have another concern:  Billy Joel.  We have tickets for Monday night at the Garden. Guess what the weather report says? Really hating winter right now.

Drew periodically visits a website where charitable causes auction off great prizes.    In the past he's successfully bid on Mets tickets and Broadway shows. Well, there were tickets for "Matilda" offered on the site.  House seats, meaning prime orchestra viewing. We discussed it, and agreed he would bid on the tickets, and if he won, I'd pay for them and consider it his birthday present. Well, he won.  And the person who arranged for the tickets told him "Once I submit the date, you can't change your mind.  You have  to go on that date.  You can't exchange the tickets for a later date." Long Island is about to  get hit with another major storm  This one came  out of the blue, all of a sudden we were getting winter storm warnings yesterday.  The snow is expected to start by noon and get increasinly worse, so that the evening commute will be at the height of the storm.  Coupled with bone chilling cold and high winds, th...

Sharing a bathroom is a "joy". Especially when you have more than one person who has to get out of the house in the morning for work/school. Jen and I (and Becca, when she was home from school and working last summer) had to negotiate a time frame for each of us to do our morning routine. It works. Usually. Unless my mother throws a monkey wrench into the works and upsets the balance. My mother retired 11 years ago, and she no longer remembers the urgency of having to make a train and/or get to work on time. And she could try the patience of a saint. Last week she wandered into the bathroom when Jen was trying to get ready for work. Mom has her own bathroom adjacent to the master bedroom, but for some reason she likes to use the scale/shower/etc. in the larger bathroom the rest of us share. Jen was...well, not polite...about throwing her out of the bathroom. And she took offense at Jen's tone...and I found myself intervening, trying to get my mother to wait a ...

Front row seat to the news I remember standing at the window, straining to see the plane in the river. We were too far away to see the passengers standing on the wings, but we could see the plane in the water and all the other traffic on the river. Truly a Miracle on the Hudson.

Bagels are soul food.  No, really, they are.  They speak to the same part of me that loves pastrami and matzo ball soup and those big, square knishes.  My uncle Louie, who was married to my father's sister Gittel, was a bagel man.  I am somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to bagels. Because bagel bakeries traditionally followed kosher laws, they could sell only baked goods, fish and dairy products.  Turnpike Bagels has no such limitations, and serves both bagels and deli items.  There are a handful of tables, but we ordered our food "to go". First visit was at breakfast time.  I had an "everything" bagel with cream cheese.  The bagel was fresh, chewy but not tough.  Toppings were flavorful.  The cream cheese portion was generous but not overwhelming.  Coffee was freshly brewed and not too strong.  They wrap hot food and drinks in Saran wrap to retain the heat.  There are also egg dishes, pancakes, etc.  They...

Jahi McMath.  Marlise Munoz.  Ariel Sharon.  Three names that have been in the news these past few days. Jahi was a 13 year old girl who died last month as a result of a complicated surgical procedure.  She has surgery to address her sleep apnea.  Shortly after the surgery she began to bleed heavily, suffered cardiac arrest and brain death.  The hospital wanted to remove her from a vent and let her go.  Her mother and family members refused, and began a court battle and media circus to keep her "alive". Marlise was 33 when she suffered a pulmonary embolism in November. Her husband and family assert that she is brain dead and want to remove her from life support.  The hospital asserts she must be kept "alive" because she is pregnant.  The family plans to sue. Ariel Sharon died two days ago.  I suppose many people forgot he was still alive.  He's been in a persistent vegetative state for 8 years as a result of a stroke.  He wa...

Lately I feel like a gypsy, wandering between my parents' house and Drew's.    Officially I live at my parents' house, but spend more time at Drew's. For the most part I enjoy la vie boheme . But I have one serious problem:  laundry. My mother has a pretty standard laundry room, a top loading washing machine and a matching dryer.  Only problem is the number of people living in that house and the amount of laundry they produce.  I got tired of fighting, arguing over who gets to use the machines. Doing laundry at Drew's is also problematic. He has a washer but not a dryer.  The washer is somewhat inaccessible.  And he's got two roommates. So. . .welcome to the laundromat.  I bring my bags of laundry and my Tide pods, and in under 2 hours I can do a week's worth of laundry. I usually go at off hours, when the place isn't particularly busy.  Made a huge mistake today, showed up at a peak time, Saturday afternoon. Never again .

Yes, that's my current obsession. My lips aren't just chapped, they are painfully chapped. Seriously, they hurt!

Do you like the gold glitter accent nail?

They're flying from JFK to Orlando today. Problem at JFK this morning. Plane skidded off the runway.  Airport was closed for two hours.  significant delays.  But they are on the plane and on their way .

Drew's roommate got a new job.  It's in his field, working for a major tech company.  Decent salary, twice what he was earning as sales help at the discount chain.  The only down side is that he has to commute into the city, his job location is lower Manhattan.

 Becca is, without question, my "Disney princess".    She and her boyfriend have done a couple of trips to WDW, including one with his parents and his sister. They have a trip planned for next week, a short Disney cruise to the Bahamas bracketed by a couple of overnight stays at WDW.  Becca has been looking forward to it for months. Meanwhile, boyfriend and his buddy decided that December would be a perfect time for  their Birthright trip to Israel. That's a 10 day trip.  Boyfriend figured he'd fly home on the 2nd (arriving on the 3rd) and fly to Orlando with Becca on the 5th, and that there'd be no problem. Boyfriend never considered the weather. We had a major snowstorm here in the northeast last night, blizzard conditions here on Long Island. My daughter spent the better part of yesterday on the phone with Disney, El Al, Jetblue, the travel insurance people... But the good news is, the plane took off from Tel Aviv and is due to arrive at...

My family has always been involved in the theatrical arts.  My maternal grandmother wanted to be an actress in the Yiddish theater.  My father harbored dreams of becoming a successful playwright.   My sisters and I all participated in drama club, chorus, orchestra, piano lessons . . . the twins even took it so far as to take BFA degrees in musical theater and attempted a career in "show business".  Ditto Drew's family.   His parents were members of a community theater organization, performing in Gilbert & Sullivan productions, and he and his sister are current members.  He was a drama club member in high school.  And, of course, our children have been involved in various performing arts, including chorus, dance, theater.... So of course we have to create drama in our lives. Current issue is Becca's upcoming graduation.  All I want to do is make a nice luncheon for my daughter in honor of her receiving her degree from a fine u...

We're a small group, looking to go out and have a good time for New Year's but not spend outrageous amounts of money to do so.  And someone suggests La Novella , where they'd had dinner a week or so ago.  I'd never been there. The offer was a prix fixe dinner -- choice of appetizer, salad, pasta, choice of entree, coffee and dessert, champagne toast. Live entertainment, party favors.  Cash bar.  reasonable rpice. It's a small, cozy restaurant.  Very old school Italian. Meal began with a bruschetta -- a flavorful tomato mixture on artisan Italian bread.  The appetizers included baked clams, mussels, tomato and mozzarella or stuffed mushrooms.  I chose the stuffed mushrooms -- four mushrooms stuffed with breadcrumbs and served with a marinara sauce.    I think I would have been happier with the mussels or the tomato and mozzarella, the stuffing was a bit bland and the sauce a bit overpowering. Next was a chopped salad in vinaigrett...