Riffing – Page 12 – All The Best

Speaking of the New Yorker*

*https://wp.me/paH8Mg-xw

It is with dread and delight that I welcome the weekly, weekly mind you, into my living room.

There is no keeping up with this magazine. I understand this is a favorite complaint of aficionados of the New Yorker.

It is relentless in bringing a stream of fascinating articles, cartoons, and reviews into the house. You can see me trailing behind this onslaught of the memorable.

To not feel like a failure under this barrage I have set myself strict guidelines in my approach.

As it comes in, I immediately peruse the back pages. Here are cartoon caption contests and impossible puzzles I won’t attempt. Working from back to front, I come upon the critics from whom I learn a great deal. They are a must even if only scanned.

Unfortunately as is the New Yorker’s wont I am not satisfied skimming and have to go on to read every word.

My next task is to be selective about which article or interview I follow. Then on to the front of the book. Here The Talk of the Town captivates.

Here’s the tricky part. I now have only 5 days to peruse this week’s issue, get a glimpse at an article or 2 from the pile of back issues before turning over the publication. My husband takes it from there, delivering a couple of old New Yorkers to the recycle bin.

This lessens my load and eases my conscience.

Early?

I heard a broadcaster say we are getting an early winter these last few days in the northeast. It struck me as strange. Usually by November I am accustomed to wearing my winter coat.

Last Saturday, the 12th of the month, the temperature was balmy. The sky was sunny and I was in a tee-shirt. Of course, it was a precipitous drop the next day. And the cold snap has held.

We may see the snowfall that used to greet us over Thanksgiving this year again. The usual early snow to kick off the holiday season.

What shall we have?

News from the front lines [WW I] seems to be generously represented in Le Petit Parisien.

Le Petit Parisien looks to be a rather incendiary little publication. Our new Cafe shares its name. The decor is a simple reminder of that connection. Cappuccino, as I mentioned in an earlier post, is very satisfactory.

Missing from next door since the owners posted their “Gone Surfing” notice is the friendly Bar Coastal. Fear not; a pub awaits. Plug-Uglies looks all set for business.

Speaking of bars… these “convenience stores” like High-End Puff [above] appear to be ready to satisfy weed cravings.

This ice cream parlor has chosen to be a self-styled PAC. I would amend this or ***add*** to this: Teach Your Children What That 30% Tax Covers; Remind Them They Live Rent-free and Eat.

Miscellaneous photo scenes that are not food related follow below as part of the fro and to of getting to Le Petit Parisien or Plug Uglies or High-End Puff.

Comes knocking

We’re an opportunistic people, we New Yorkers. 79th going east off 1st was closed for emergency vehicles on Marathon Day.

It became a playground. These boys throwing a football and the kids playing tag around NYPD trucks took hold of a great big play street.

Over 50 years of living on the starboard side of NYC’s Marathon has given 50 years of griping.

This year it felt cozy. I remembered the occasion and planned accordingly. I made my last foray to west First Avenue on Sat. evening; let them shut it off as early as 10am and the stragglers trail in late into the night.

Halloween provided the opportunity and these little horror decorators rose to the occasion. I am sure that after having worked this hard, they’d rather just wait for happenstance to take these down.

A Late Fall

Truthfully, it’s hard to judge when a season is a late arrival. Weather spikes all over the place these days.

I’ve been noting that there was a preponderance of yellow leaves which, and yes, they are beautiful, are the weaker foliage of the Fall. My conclusion today? Reds are just late to the party. At least for me the first week of November for “peak” colors just peeking out appears late.

Falling leaves

Orange or yellow leaves have been predominant this Fall.

Autumn is a lovely season with generously colored leaves gracing the crowns of trees.

Autumnal implies a weathered maturity.

It is also in the lexicon of sadness, where it suggests regrets over the changing seasons.

Before the Fall can decry an end to warm weather and revelry, it decorates our environs.

Somewhere in there, our man-made decorations creep in as we celebrate a pagan holiday.

Leaves, in pretty colors, fall to the ground, and with the nip in the air, define an end to summer.

Exercise

Spirited activity is good for body [of course] and soul [incidentally.] It comes in many formats, from just good old aerobics or push-ups & pull downs to spins on a bike, either across town or staying in place -to mention just a few.

The talented can hit tennis balls over the net or affect the butterfly stroke. The choices are wide and high. The idea is to keep moving.

Is this something new? Can’t walk your dog without stopping to give him a treat? Not something I remember from my days on a leash. Maybe that was why my pooch dragged me the last 400 yards to the supermarket.

We are so lucky to have a bee-line view to Central Park’s festivities. It’s the Friday before the Marathon and fireworks were in order.

Autumn approaching

Yellow appears, now just
Blanketing the crown of 
The tree like the white 
Covers my crown; soon the
Yellow leaves will overrun
The green and then drop
As the temperature does

Positive thinking

Millard Fillmore, remember him? Well, I hear he was head of a supremely negative political movement that was proud to call itself the Know Nothing Party.

An aside here: the fool is proud of that which the wise man finds embarrassing.
old Yugoslav expression

Ignorance goes hand in hand with the kind of pride that revels in conspiracy theories. It is the foundation on which falsehoods and misinformation [aka LIES] are built.

Along with the untruths, there is a new kind of pornography spreading in negative political advertising.

The good news for us is we can eschew the Know-Nothings and disdain far-fetched theories.

We know something; we know better.

We can use our knowledge. We can come to rational conclusions. We can be wise and principled.

Speaking of Croatia

Pierrot and Pierrette. “It is truly unlikely that the occasion for this masquerade had anything to do with Halloween. This holiday has no tradition that I know of in Croatia.”

Just cause a place was a point of your origin, does not mean you haven’t overlooked some of its finer points.

For Instance, I never heard of a dessert called the bayadere which apparently is a specialty from my mother’s neck of the Balkans. I encountered one at Les Gateaux de Marie and have to admit it’s very addictive. I am a huge chocolate mixed with nuts fan.

The coffee at this little French bakery Cafe is far from solid. It’s the bajadera I come back for from time to time.

Speaking of La Bayadere, it’s also the name of a classical dance. While I never fully understood its virtues when I was the audience, it is an elaborate and much admired work. I think my imagination is stymied by the appearance of ghosts.

Marius Petipa conceived this dramatic tale of exotica and eternal love set in ancient India for a large troupe of his dancers. The title refers to the Indian temple dancer, Nikiya, whose ghost returns to seek vengeance and be reunited with her noble lover, Solor.

How the name for an Indian temple dancer came to grace a Croatian sweet, I cannot tell you. I will attest that the pastry is, like an Indian Temple Dancer, an exotic treat.

The ghost or a wraith of some sort is an oft seen character in ballet, from Giselle, Les Sylphides to the apotheosis in Swan Lake.

Thus closes this Halloween-themed episode….