Burning Bright

It’s easy to see why kids, both big and little, love fire engines. They are usually kept lovingly polished and shining. Even at rest in their garages they can’t help catching the eye. Many of New York’s fire trucks have slogans painted above the front windshields. One of my favorites is an engine in the Broadway theater district that proudly states, “Never missed a performance!”

Of far more importance than the spectacular vehicles used in their essential work are the firemen themselves. We New Yorkers consider them heroes, and rightly so. The horrors of 9/11 showed their strength and courage fully, but these men have always had our respect and admiration.

Like the rest of us, they have to do grocery shopping, and I often see them making purchases at the Fairway I frequent. That’s why this beautiful fire engine was parked by the stop near that storied food market, where I was waiting for the Broadway bus.

For further musings on Fairway, with or without our great firemen:

http://mobilemanhattanite.blogspot.com/2008/03/fairway-oy-veh.html

http://mobilemanhattanite.blogspot.com/2010/08/fairway-redux.html

Putting Zs Into "Das Rheingold"

Overactive imagination at work again: Sat down to enjoy Das Rheingold at the Met the other night, and noticed that an elderly gentlemen a few seats to my right was already asleep. I had always supposed that, at least, people waited until the opera actually started before they dropped off. O.K., he wasn’t bothering me and he wasn’t even snoring.

Shortly after the show started, I noticed that another man, just to my left, was bent far over, also apparently asleep as well. I was afraid that he would fall against me, but that didn’t happen.  As the excellent performance progressed, I noticed that he wasn’t waking up. Was he dead? Immediately, ominous thoughts of summoning an usher who would call for an EMT flooded my mind. Would I have to stay around and be a witness? He had come to the opera alone. Would I have to do the Good Samaritan thing? I trusted that the applause at the end would wake him up first.

Of course, he wasn’t dead at all and even stirred a few times during Rheingold’s two and one-half hours. He fled as soon as the curtain came down. I wonder if he remembered anything of the very fine performance. Even the Met’s infamous Robert Lepage Machine, much despised by the critics, made very little noise. There were only a few slight rumbles as the Rhine maidens descended into the deep at the end of their scene. The audience, except for the two snoozers, responded with vociferous appreciation at the opera's conclusion.

Staplers! Or, My Mini-Collection

A co-worker at my last job and I had both loved the movie Office Space (1999), and one day I found that she had bought me a gift, even though it was neither my birthday nor a holiday. It turned out to be a red Swingline stapler, immortalized in the movie to such an extent that Swingline started manufacturing red staplers again. Then, this item appeared in the business section of today's New York Times, sparking nostalgia and causing me to e-mail the article to my former office mate:

Staplers, the Attachment That’s Still Making Noise - NYTimes.com

Among various family objects I've inherited over the years is this Ace Cadet stapler, which could date anywhere from the 1930s through the 1950s. In my case, it's probably from either the 30s or the 40s. Maybe it's even worth something to a collector; people collect old typewriters and cameras, though I don't see why. Swingline is probably eternally grateful to the producers of Office Space. To quote a famous line from Death of a Salesman, "Business is definitely business." I'm not that hard up to try to sell it on eBay, though I've already discovered a site for antique staplers, which shows one like this.

Well, maybe I'll entertain bids, if anyone actually reads this!

John Jay on TV (Anonymously)?

CUNY's well-regarded John Jay College of Criminal Justice recently added an impressive new structure on Eleventh Avenue (which subsequently becomes West End Avenue) as an addition to its campus. Passing by it frequently on the M57 bus, I have become aware that it does double duty on more than one occasion. From time to time, the building has its name changed. A couple of weeks back, in large, neat, permanent-appearing letters, it was called "ALL SAINTS HOSPITAL." And just today, its name had been changed to "BOOKER UNIVERSITY." Underneath the Booker name was "University Hospital." Most intriguing. A quick check on Google (delightfully, the relatively new voice-activated Google app on my iPhone), showed that, apparently, there is no such university. And there doesn't seem to be an All Saints Hospital in New York City, either.

My keen intelligence, honed by endless viewings of the now-defunct, but still ubiquitous, Law and Order (where Lt. Van Buren and others were John Jay alumni), allowed me to posit that they are using John Jay's handsome western façade as a location indicator for one or another TV shows, most probably police and/or medical dramas. I'll have to look sharp to see if I can catch it on the small screen one of these days.

Update! Further research reveals that "All Saints Hospital" is the workplace of Edie Falco, the eponymous protagonist of the show Nurse Jackie on Showtime. O.K., that mystery solved. Now, where is "Booker University"?

Sometimes Music Hath No Charms At All

The music that one will hear inside this "hallowed" place is always appropriate to the impressive setting. BUT....!

Friends and I have enjoyed Aquavit's Christmas Eve julbord for the past several years. We went again last night and found the quality and atmosphere had been maintained EXCEPT for one glaring fact. There was almost-too-loud background music playing that would have been suitable for a shopping mall, a Denny's or an Olive Garden, e.g., but not for a presumably sophisticated Manhattan top-class restaurant. This type of "Jingle Bells," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" background might go in Omaha, but not in NYC, and not at these prices. TACKY is the only way to describe it, and I can only hope that this was a one-time failing; we never experienced it (or, as I dimly recall, any other obtrusive background music) at Christmases past. Soft, high-level jazz would be best. Music is the bane of many otherwise fine dining establishments.

Sweet Spot

Diabetics everywhere: Beware! There are now three stores of the It'Sugar chain in the New York area. Passed this one on Broadway in the Lincoln Center area yesterday. One must admit that the colorful display of all manner of candies and related sweets makes an attractive picture. I stayed just outside the entrance myself, not being attracted to anything but top-of-the-line Belgian or French chocolates. Thus I was saved from the alluring fantasy of this emporium. Small children may lose their minds here.

MTA Musings, or, "Mama Don't 'Low"

Ever since the "NO littering, smoking, spitting, radio playing" notices have been up on NYC public transportation, I have, with my usual tendency to free-associate, been reminded of the following terrific American folksong:

           Mama Don't 'Low 

Mama don't 'low no banjo playing round here
Mama don't 'low no banjo playing round here
Well, I don't care what Mama don't 'low
Gonna play my banjo anyhow
Mama don't 'low no banjo playing round here

Mama don't 'low no guitar playing round here
Mama don't 'low no guitar playing round here
Well, I don't care what Mama don't 'low
Gonna play my guitar anyhow
Mama don't 'low no guitar playing round here

Mama don't 'low no talking round here
Mama don't 'low no talking round here
Well, I don't care what Mama don't 'low
Gonna shoot my mouth off anyhow
Mama don't 'low no talking round here

Mama don't 'low no singing round here
Mama don't 'low no singing round here
Well, I don't care what Mama don't 'low
Gonna sing my head off anyhow
Mama don't 'low no singing round here 

I just want to replace "banjo playing" with "littering," guitar playing" with "smoking," "talking" with "spitting," and "singing" with "radio playing." This is what I hear in my head when riding on an MTA bus or subway. I have a few more items that Mama shouldn't 'low, but it would make this entry too long.