was the menu limited...or just treif?

I was reminiscing with some friends, and the subject turned to Korvette's, the chain of discount stores. The conversation made me wonder about something from my childhood.

There was a Korvette's in Douglaston, near where I grew up. The location is now occupied by a Toys R Us, a Modell's and (I think) something else in between. BUt when I was a kid and it was Korvette's, there was a little pretzel stand in front, right by the parking lot. I don;t really remember what we ever bought at the store (except for Nitwit, who was one of our cats). But I remember the pretzel stand. Hot, chewy pretzels, with just the right amount of salt. That was a special treat. Now, decades later, I look back and wonder if it was really just a pretzel stand? I suspect they sold hot dogs, but my parents never bought us those because they weren't kosher.

frankenstein must be destroyed (cinema history class)

Session: Monsters of Hammer, week 3
Movie: Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed

Plot:
Baron Frankenstein is experimenting with brain transplants. With the reluctant help of a young doctor and the young doctor's fiance, he works his magic using the brain of his former colleague. Hilarity ensues.

Class Reaction:
This may have been, overall, the best general reaction to a movie that the class has had. We all thought that this was a great movie.

My Thoughts:
Given the screaming title and sensationalized trailer, I was expecting a much trashier movie. And I was expecting to see the classic Frankenstein's Monster with green skin and bolts coming out of the neck. In fact, FMBD is actually a quite intelligent film. In the after-film discussion, I compared it to some of the movies based on Michael Crichton novels. I believe the ones I cited were The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Crichton had a habit of writing science fiction that centered on something that seemed plausible but slightly beyond the reach of current science. Invariably the plot involved something going awry. Jurassic Park is another good example. In FMBD, Frankenstein is working on brain transplants -- something which, in principle, is plausible.

That's not to say that this was an overly-cerebral movie. While the central premise and plot were intelligent, there was a dose of trashiness, which made this feel more like something from the early 1960s than 1969 (which was the actual release year). Director Terence Fisher did a great job of building suspense early, and keeping it going. There really wasn't a dull point in the film. And the ending, bleak though it was, was perfect.

Peter Cushing turned in another great performance. Manic. Brooding. Clever. Almost sympathetic. Sometimes I wonder if he was capable of a bad performance.

The only thing I didn't like about the film was the rape scene. Apparently it was filmed over the objections of Peter Cushing, Veronica Carlson and Terence Fisher (respectively, the actors involved in the scene and the director). All because a Hammer executive thought it was necessary to keep the American audience happy. But because of the way it came about, the scene was out of place and out of character. And the rape is never mentioned or alluded to afterwards. Worst of all, if not for that scene, Frankenstein would be an almost sympathetic villain.

The class all agreed that the rape was out of place. IN fact, if I recall correctly, Joe said that it lowered his rating of the movie from a 9.9 to a 9.5.

In this session, I have been consistently surprised at the quality of the movies Keith has been showing us. I may have to rethink my impression that Hammer was a trash-producer.

a cheese for me?

One of our regular stops at the Jackson Heights Farmers's Market on Sundays is Bardwell Farms. They sell cheese. Really good cheese. One of the things that's interesting about them is that they have their own variety of cheeses, which they name themselves. Most of their cheeses seem to be named after towns in Vermont near their farm, though a couple are named after people. For example, "Experience" is actually named after Experience Bardwell, who was part of the Bardwell family generations ago. In fact, the farm is really "Consider Bardwell Farm," named after Consider Bardwell who was a family matriarch.

Yesterday I sent them an email asking if they'd name a cheese after me. I know it's a long shot, but it's more likely to happen if I ask than if I don't. Following is the text of my email:

Dear Bardwell Farmers, 

First of all, I have to tell you how grateful I am for the yummy cheeses that you make available at the farmers markets in New York City. We are regular visitors to your booth at the Jackson Heights market on Sundays. In fact, today, we picked up an order of veal that we had placed, as well as a hunk of Pawlet and a hunk of Rupert. 

My son, Ethan, is partial to the Rupert (though he really loves the Rupert Reserve, which is rarely available). I love the Pawlet, which I eat rind and all. It's got such a great pungency -- assertive but not overbearing. My wife, Blair, seems likes the Danby. 

In addition, buying your cheese is always such a pleasant experience -- almost as much fun as eating it. The lady who used to operate your booth is gone -- she had told us she'd be moving to California. Pretend there's a frowny face emoji here. But the people we have seen at your booth since she left have been super-friendly. 

But actually, none of that is why I'm writing. I have been aware that you have created your own names for your special cheeses -- typically towns in Vermont near your farm. If it would be possible, I would be extremely grateful if you would name a cheese after me. I know it's a big ask, since you don't come up with new cheeses every day -- and you probably get lots of these requests. I don;t really have much to say in support of my request (as opposed to others), except to note that "Whinston" would be s dignified-sounding name that would sit well in the pantheon that already includes Manchester, Dorset and Slyboro. 

Please do consider (no pun intended) my request. Thank you very much, 

Sincerely,
Marc Whinston

I'll let you know if I hear back.

remembering a band and getting schooled on meat

For a few days now, my earwig has been a passage from "Island Song" by Swamp Thing.

Well, I used to like steak and potatoes,
But potatoes are nasty roots
And steak is ripped from the side of a cow.
So eat bananas. They're a wonderful fruit.

It's been years since I heard the song. It's from Swamp Thing's 1985 album, Learning to Disintegrate, which came across my notice when I was in college, writing record reviews for a college newspaper. There were two songs on the album that I absolutely loved -- "I Love Children" and "Island Song." The quote above comes from the latter song.

Anyway, T2D is one of the records that I wore out over the years. And I've never been able to find it on CD.

Cue to last week. I was thinking about the album, and decided to look up the lead vocalist on FaceBook. He confirmed that the album hasn;t been released on CD, but did send me a link to CDBaby, where I can purchase a digital download. I have to get around to doing that. What holds me back is that, in a sense, I'm old school on that. I much prefer having a physical disc than simply a download. In fact, once I download it, I'll have to burn it onto a physical disc in order to truly consider it part of my music collection. Add to that the fear that I'll screw up the download, and be stuck with nothing. I have got to get with the times.

So, meanwhile, I was in the car today with Ethan and Blair, and started absentmindedly singing "Island Song." We were just leaving the farmer's market where we had looked at some steaks (Ethan is very picky, and none looked quite right to him) and picked up some veal we had ordered from the cheesemongers we like. When I got to the line about steak being ripped from the side of a cow, Ethan corrected me.

"No, it's not."

"Huh?" I answered cleverly.

"Steak isn't ripped from the side of a cow." He then proceeded to go through a dissertation on what cuts of meat come from where.

Life with a foodie.

the curse of the werewolf (cinema history class)

Keith continued his month of Hammer films with 1961's The Curse of the Werewolf, which was a creative reimagining of the werewolf legend. I say it was a reimagining because there were several ways in which it distanced itself from the standard werewolf story. Of course, every retelling of some classic legend is going to add new elements or ignore established ones. But this was a radical departure.

This story doesn't involve the usual trope of the werewolf hunting people, who then become werewolves themselves. Instead, we follow Leon, born a werewolf, as he grows into a man, dealing with his curse.. In some ways, the movie centers on how his loved ones deal with it. Love, as we see, keeps the werewolf's curse at bay.

That's because, as explained by a priest, the werewolf's body is inhabited by a human soul and a wolf spirit. Love and goodness nourish the soul and weaken the wolf, while negativity, hatred and sin nourish the wolf. So when he celebrates payday with a coworker by going to a bar and hanging around with prostitutes, the wolf asserts itself. But when he finds true love with a rich girl who is willing to throw everything away to be with him, the wolf subsides.

With that, the film is like a fairytale. And, at times it felt like I was watching a Disney film. The chirping birds, the dancing through a flowered glen, and the narration at the beginning lent that mood. On the other hand, there were times (mostly near the beginning), when this felt like Poe adaptation.

In addition to being an original take on a classic, this was sinply told very well and very enjoyably.

what's a "treetop lover"?

I've been on a "Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown" jag. It started when my daily Adrian Zmed meme referenced Chicago. If you found this post from my FaceBook page, you may know what I'm referring to. If not, then you may be confused. Too bad. Anyway, I posted the Zmed meme, and a Facebook friend commented with a reference to the South side of Chicago, which put me in full-fledged nostalgia for Jim Croce's classic.

The next two Zmed memes were references to the song. I've had the song as an earwig, and I've been singing it over and over. And on someone else's FB account I responded to a post with a bad joke about the song. But, of course, someone who doesn't know me saw my comment. He didn't know I was making a joke, and concluded (reasonably, I admit) that I was saying that "Bad Bad Leroy Brown" was a song by the band, Chicago. Arrrgghhhh!

But all that's beside the point.

A couple of people have asked me about the line, "All the downtown ladies call him 'Treetop Lover.'" What, exactly, does that mean? And I can't answer because I have no clue. All I could think of is that he's always climbing out of bedroom windows and into the treetops because his lovers' husbands have unexpectedly come home during the day. But that doesn't sound quite right.

I looked on Google, and found some references to the term, but nothing that really makes sense in context. Urban Dictionary has the following for "Treetop"

The guy that everyone either wants to be, wants to be like, or wants to be with. The guy so cool he decides what's going to be cool next.

But I don't think that's what Croce meant. Over at Topix, there was a heated discussion (part of which is reproduced here. Someone with the username "Christmas Hunter" eventually wrote "It's a guy that thinks he is the world's #1 lover. Get with it people." That's probably the best explanation I'll see, but it still leaves me wondering how the term came about.

Anyone?

damn hypocritical movie characters. grrrrr!

Remember the movie You've Got Mail? It was one of those cloying 1990s romcoms about a man and a woman finding love despite seeming to be mismatched. It starred Tom Hanks and someone else. Probably Meg Ryan*. I should probably check that. But, well, if you think I'm cheating you by not checking, then get your money back on the subscription.

Anyhoo...

You know what bugs me about that movie? The source of the mismatch is the Hanks' character runs a chain of mega-bookstores (obviously based on Barnes & Noble), while Ryan's (I'm assuming it was Ryan) character runs an independent bookstore. She sees him as evil, as his mega-chain is crowding out the independents like her store, and effectively homogenizing the industry.

I'm putting aside the economic arguments.

But where does she get her daily cups of coffee? From the independent coffee shops? Or the neighborhood bodegas? Nope. From Starbucks.

The damn hypocrite.

*In looking for the trailer to post with this entry, I learned that it was Meg Ryan. Yay, me! But don't for a second think I'm gonna go back up there and fix up all the text.

because they need a way to make baseball suck

Back in college I wrote a column for a campus newspaper, in which I suggested the following changes to make Major League Baseball more exciting:

• Let the batters self-pitch (and increase the number of fielders)
• Increase the number of outs per inning to four
• Add more teams
• Add another base
• Let the fans in attendance vote on close plays
• Bury land mines in the basepaths

I honestly don't remember what moved me to write the article. I framed it as a reaction to the American League adopting the DH rule, but that rule had already been in place for more than a decade. Maybe it was because my friend was putting together a baseball-themed insert, and need articles. Whatever.

My mind drifted back to this article when I saw this in Sports Illustrated today. MLB is considering a rules change that's pretty much on par with the ones I suggested. They want extra innings to start with a runner on second base. The theory -- and I'm sure they're right -- is that scoring in extra innings would become more likely and games would become shorter.

As an aside, I note that I saw a comment on Facebook from someone arguing that it won;t shorten games. The argument there was that each team gets that extra run, so nothing is accomplished. The argument is flawed because the extra run isn't assured. This rules change introduces an extra source of variance, which would surely lower the average number of innings needed to determine a winner.

This would be the most significant rule change in well over a century, and it would be terrible. They may as well just settle tie games with a home run derby.

the quatermass xperiment (cinema history class)

I am not generally familiar with a lot of 1950s science fiction movies. For reasons that I can't fully identify I associate the genre with cheesy drive-in fare such as I Married a Monster From Outer Space or The Space Children*. Of course, I know that this mental image isn't correct, or at least isn't entirely correctl counterexamples include The Incredible Shrinking Man and The Day The Earth Stood Still. But this perception persists.

So, going to Keith's class, I wasn't expecting a particularly intelligent mo. Not that that's a bad thing -- stupid films can be fun. And this was a Hammer film. Showing a month of Hammer films was Ethan's idea, since Hammer is his favorite production company.

At any rate, The Quatermass Experiment far exceeded my expectations. A story of space flight gone wrong, it actually was a reasonably intelligent film, and it told its story very well. There was a bit of techy mumbo-jumbo mixed with unreasonable conclusion-jumping, but that was necessary in service of a compelling tale. In many ways, this was sort of a Lost in Space plot with the cerebral quality of Twilight Zone. Though, lest anyone think I'm saying this is a ripoff of those films, I acknowledge that it predated those films.

Of course, I have to note that, despite the intelligence of this film, I am thinking that it had enough M&A (that's Monster and Action) that I am betting it satisfied the drive-in crowd. In fact (as you may have noticed if you watched the trailer above), it was released in the US under an alternate title: The Creeping Unknown. I'm not crazy about the original title; The Quatermass Xperiment is a little too enigmatic. But it's better than the American title, which (if anything) reinforces the image I described above.

All in all, a really good choice to open Hammer month.

*Confession: I haven't seen either of these movies. I chose them as examples because of their blaring titles. Hell, for all I know they're actually intelligent films.

some thoughts from a non-fan on superbowl li

I wasn't planning on blogging about Super Bowl LI (every time I see that, I think it's short for Long Island) since I'm not particularly knowledgeable about football and I'm not a big fan. But it was exciting, so WTH.

I went into this rooting for New England, for reasons that I'm not entirely sure of. The fact is, as a Giants and Jets fan (to the extent that I'm any kind of football fan), I should be anti-Patriots. But I also think that the NFL treated Tom Brady unfairly during that whole deflate-gate scandal, and I like the idea of this being a little "fuck you" to the league, Also, and maybe this is awful, but the Falcons just don't seem like a team that should be in the Super Bowl. I don't mean the specific players on the Falcons, or the combination of them. I have no idea about any of them. I'm talking about the franchise. I mean, Atlanta Falcons and Superbowl? They don't exactly go together like franks and beans. In the end, I would tell people -- half-jokingly -- that the more success Brady has in the Super Bowl, the more it will annoy him that he couldn't beat Eli Manning (and he had two tries).

I was pretty bored during the first half -- even fell asleep a time or two, and like everyone else, I was giving up on the Patriots. During the third quarter, Blair was reading me the snarky tweets about how Lady Gaga got more yardage in the air than the Patriots, or "Hey, Belichick, time to make your move." My favorite, was about how the Falcons turned in Atlanta's best first half performance since the Civil War. At the time I noted that that wouldn't be appropriate unless New England comes back for the win. And she laughed. If only I'd known.

From my layman's perspective, it appeared to me that Brady simply underwent a transformation in the fourth quarter. For most of the game he just kept missing on his passes. He would overthrow or underthrow, or throw behind the receiver. But in the fourth quarter there were stretches when he was brilliant. Like he couldn't miss. And he came through when he needed to. But it will still stick in his craw that he couldn;t beat Manning in the big game.

I was streaming the game on Fox Sports, which generally worked well, although there was a stretch near the end that I lost the stream, and had a hard time getting it back. That was during the fourth quarter -- just after the field goal that brought the score to 28-12. I was tempted to say to hell with it, since the game was a blowout. It kept trying to reload, and kept cursing impotently as it failed. But I kept going, thinking about how I'd feel if somehow the Pats came back and I missed it. I missed one touchdown (and two-point conversion), but got it back soon after that.

Blair tells me that she's been reading about some big names like Mark Wahlberg who left early because it was a blowout. All I can say to them is that you never leave a sporting event early. Well, that and:

I noticed that they started the balloting for Super Bowl MVP while the Falcons were still up by a buttload. I think they should come up with some other way of doing things. THe decision should be made after the game is over, or you run the risk of having a completely inappropriate winner.

Other than the exciting comeback? BORING. Lady GaGa is obviously talented, and her show was elaborately choreographed. But I'm just not into her stuff. I do have three questions, though:

1. Who the hell crouches on a piano bench?
2. Why were there dancers with Klingon Bat'leths?
3. Is it my imagination or did she initially look like Miley Cyrus?

The ads weren't particularly entertaining either, though the usually-annoying George Takei was actually pretty good in the Domino's spot. I do have to say I'm surprised to see working for Domino's given that it's Tom Monahan's chain?

One last thought. Who designed that awful logo? The one with the Roman numeral LI with the trophy? The placement made it look like it was an LII logo, which would be 52.

constitutional questment i: wherefore section 2?

I've been reading over the Constitution, and have come across some points that I have questions and comments (i.e., "questments") about. Rather than try to post a list of them, I'll do them one at a time. That way if I tyhink of more, I can post them too, without it looking like an addendum. So here goes with "Constitutional Questments."

The fifteenth amendment establishes that voting rights will not be denied on the basis of race, color or previous condition of servitude. That's in Section 1. Section 2 reads "The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

What's the purpose of the second clause? The only explanation I can think of is a concern that a state could limit voting rights, and then argue that the Federal government can't come in and enforce the rule stated in Section 1. In that event the amendment would be toothless.

Is that it? Is there another reason?

is the chicago sunroof for real?

I've been rewatching the first season of Better Call Saul, and it leaves me with a question.

The show introduces a term which I had never heard before. "Chicago Sunroof." It's a noun. As in, "I was so pissed off at that guy for blocking my driveway that I climbed on top of his car and gave him a Chicago sunroof." As is explained, it consists of defecating through the open sunroof of a car.

Now, I heard this, and thought...who the hell would think to do such a thing? And who the hell would actually give it a name? Jeez! Out of curiosity -- to see if it was really a thing -- I tried looking it up on the intertubes. I found lots of references on Google. More than half a million. But they all seem to refer back to Better Call Saul. Well, not all. There's also a beer -- Chicago Sunroof IPA. But that seems to have been invented after the BCS episode in question had aired. So I can't rule out the possibility that the term was invented for the show.

Can anyone help me out here? Oh, and while we're at it, how about "squat cobbler"?

some reminiscing about pastramiterias

The Carnegie Deli is known for overstuffed sandwiches

I guess I'm a little late to the party. One month late, that is. The Carnegie Deli, one of New York's premiere pastrameterias, closed up for good at the end of December. The Carnegie was known for its overstuffed sandwiches; it set the standard, and few other delis come close.

But my feelings are mixed at worst. I rarely actually went to the Carnegie, so it's not really that big a deal to me. The last time was, I think, 2015 when my cousin was in town with his wife and kids. So this doesn't really affect me directly. On the other hand, I suppose I took comfort in the knowledge that it was always there and I always could go if I wanted. An overstuffed pastrami on rye with a Cel-Ray, and maybe a knish. The big question was whether to have mustard or Russian dressing on the sandwich.

The Carnegie was one of two truly iconic Jewish delis in New York. Oh, there are other Jewish delis, though not as many as there used to be (more on that later), but as I see it, only two ad truly mythic status. The other one, is Katz's. Katz's has been around since the 19th century -- 1888 I think, but I'm too lazy to check. And some people swear by it. It also gained some extra pop culture cred as the site of Meg Ryan's fake orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally. But I have never found the meat to be that good. To me it's just overrated and overpriced. As they say, "על טעם וריח אין להתווכח." Loosely translated, "you can't argue taste."

My go-to pastramiteria

There are still a few worthwhile delis in New York. Notably, Ben's Best in Rego Park, Liebman's in Riverdale and Sarge's in Midtown East. There are, of course, others whose names escape me. But it does sadden me that there are so few, since there used to be so many.

There are so many delis I remember from my youth that are simply gone. In this neighborhood (I live in the same neighborhood where I grew up) there was Charney's and the Surrey Deli. The former closed when I was a kid. The latter limped along into the 1990s, but as a shell of its former self. When I went to high school there was the Zion Deli around the corner. And there was a place in the Bay Terrace Shopping Center, near where Ben's is now. For the record, I have a hard time referring to Ben's (of the chain) as a deli. It's more of a deli-themed diner. But, I do have to admit they have decent pastrami and corned beef. And superior cole slaw. So maybe I shouldn't be so snarky about them.

But the demographics have changed, and red meat and salt have fallen out of favor due to perceived health effects. So there are just fewer of the places than there used to be. And I miss them...