The Zeitgeist

A Whole Lot of New Humor and New Music. Click Over to Those Pages!

No lengthy Zeitgeist this week -- but check out the "Humor" and "Music" pages starting Tuesday the 17th for a whole lot of new posts. If you have a couple of minutes there are a couple of highly worthwhile articles that I heartily recommend. The first comes from the Tuesday, May 17th Wall Street Journal Opinion Pages -- former Jerusalem Post Editor Bret Stephens has written the definitive piece on the current propsects for peace between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel and the overall climate of deep anxiety being caused by the so-called "Arab Spring." Brilliant stuff:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703421204576327094275297416.html

The second piece come from Sunday's New York Post entitled "Wine, It's All In Your Head," showing that the most expensive bottle of wine may not be the best tasting or the most enjoyable. Surprising research reveals that even some experts can't tell the difference between pricey and inexpensive wines in blind tastings.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/wine_it_all_in_your_head_Bh2Z0Vi3lRcvDH0kc5Ec8H

The Zeitgeist

        

Nighttime construction. Prince William and Kate at their wedding last week. Michael Oren’s “Six Days of War” and The Eichmann Trial.

Driving Tips, William and Kate and Some Good Books to Read

Drivers beware – if you thought the construction on Peninsula Blvd. was something to bemoan or the streets being ripped-up in the back of Lawrence, watch out for the Westbound side of Rockaway Turnpike from the 5 Towns Mall up to the airport. Every night lately from about nine or so they’re busy ripping up the pavement and putting down fresh asphalt complete with closing off two lanes, giant portable stadium lights, the aroma of fresh molten tar wafting in the air and gigantic delays getting to JFK and points North.

Additionally, on the Northbound Van Wyck Expressway they’re engaged in similar endeavors from JFK right up to the Grand Central split, also closing two lanes. If you have a desire to spend and hour and a half going to LaGuardia at 10:00 p.m. then by all means take the Rockaway to Van Wyck route. My recommendation – head up Francis Lewis Blvd. to the Cross Island or Mill Road to Merrick Road to the CIP as well.

If you are stuck in terrible late night traffic it helps to have satellite radio. Be aware that Sirius/XM has changed their entire channel line-up so that hardly any of your radio preset buttons will now land you on your favorite stations (you’ve probably figured this out already). Maddening. And we pay for this. Hard enough changing the time in the car when we hit Daylight Savings Time. Now we have to reprogram the radio presets. Great.

The Royal Wedding

Last Friday William and Kate tied the knot at Westminster Abbey followed by a couple of soirees at Buckingham Palace. Now those two venues probably can’t compare to The Sephardic Temple or The Sands in Atlantic Beach but somehow I’m sure the royal family managed to get through it all nevertheless.

Last Saturday, New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser wrote a scathing screed about the wedding charging that it was “disturbingly white,” Peyser asserted that “I saw not a potential queen…Kate bore the look of a lithe human sacrifice…in her eyes terror.” Peyser went on to state that “Kate did her best to paint on a smile…as the royal mob made asses of themselves…to give Kate the once-over like a hunk of meat.” She added finally that “Brits in T-shirts and jeans gathered for days to catch a glimpse of the white folks riding to Buckingham Palace…”

Me thinks Ms. Peyser doth protest too much. Speaking as a certified Jewish-American Prince myself, let me address Peyser’s points – Of course the royal wedding was full of white people. England is ground zero for world WASPY-ness and the bullseye at this ground zero is the royal family. How many minorities does one find at the average Jewish or Italian or Irish wedding? How many white folks at a Saudi wedding or nuptials in Swaziland? People invite their nearest and dearest to weddings and that means family first and foremost. The royals are white. So what?

“Human sacrifice?” Ms. Middleton dated Willie for eight years and this was no shotgun wedding. She is a 29 year-old grown woman not a naïve 19 year-old. She knew she was marrying into. Also, some people actually want to get married. No need to feel sorry for the girl. Kate just married one of the world’s wealthiest men, will be living in palaces and traveling the world. Not too shabby if you go for that sort of thing.

“Terror?” Hey Andrea, ever been married? Everyone is scared to death at their wedding even if it’s just in front of 100 people in a restaurant and not 2,000 at a cathedral. Everyone attending a wedding takes a long look at the bride as she makes her way down the isle, probably no more or less than those gazing at Kate. That’s why brides across the world make such a fuss over their appearance on their wedding days. And for the album. Finally, for some reason we Americans can’t totally fathom or relate to, the Brits on the whole idolize the Monarchy and see the royals as the President and Hollywood rolled into one. Our celebrity-obsessed culture deifies people of much less worth, so if Brits want to catch a glimpse of the bride and groom, more power to them.

The British are entitled to their own culture, to their own heritage. In the pluralistic multi-cultural politically correct world everyone’s diversity is celebrated except for white people, who somehow are the source of all evil. The British are one of the founts of what used to be called “Western Civilization,” which used to be a good thing. Regarding Will and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (the original one, not the one next to Boston) I wish them much happiness. Marriage is tough. Billions make it easier. And the next time I tie the knot, I’ll be looking for one of those fancy British redcoat uniforms to wear, provided that my Jewish-American Princess allows me to.

Two Great Reads

In recognition of Holocaust Rembrance Day last week and Israeli Independence Day this week, I recommend two books I just finished. First is Michael B. Oren’s “Six Days of War,” about the June 1967 war. Oren, now Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., wrote this book about 10 years ago and it is quite simply as the Philadelphia Inquirer says, “a magisterial work.” What makes the book special are all the interviews Oren conducted with former Egyptian and Jordanian generals and officials, opening a window to the Arab state of mind in the conflict that has generally not been reported and is fascinating for its perspective. Combine that with intimate details of how the war was run from the Israeli side and you have a riveting read.

Second is “The Eichmann Trial” by noted historian Deborah E. Lipstadt. This is a new, short book examining the impact of the trial of Adolf Eichmann on history and the world at the time and how the Israeli prosecutors ran the proceedings. Also rife with never before revealed details and insights, Lipstadt makes us privy to real-time drama and dialog that puts you in the visitors’ gallery. A compelling story today in light of all the Eichmann wannabees prancing about. You’ll get through this book in a day. Excellently written.

The Zeitgeist

      

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY.

I’m having an anniversary. A year ago I found myself ambling out of the Seventh Avenue offices of the Beth Din of America, the rabbinical court that processes many Jewish divorces in New York. The Beth Din (religious court) is located in a very non-descript office building South of Penn Station in an equally non-descript suite of offices in that building. One could just as well be visiting some city agency or mid-level law or accounting firm. Visually, there’s nothing about the place that would indicate the dramatic life changes taking place within its walls.

The overall vanilla drabness there is perhaps a metaphor for the blah-like feelings I had upon emerging after an hour spent with a panel of heretofore unknown (to me) rabbis, quills in hand as they peppered me with no end of questions on my lineage and that of my now former spouse while they wrote a Bill of Divorce (a “get”) which is essentially the opposite of a Jewish marriage certificate (a “ketuba”).

Although the place is very bureaucratic looking, the atmosphere is comparable to that of a funeral parlor (minus the Gothic crenellations and profusion of interior mahogany, suede and flowers) as you’re not the only person having their life unraveled at the time, so the waiting area is an amalgam of grim, teary and moist-eyed people of all ages and genders, some heartbreakingly young and some surprisingly old.

In the space of 60 minutes 14-plus years of my life were consigned to the permanent past in a divorce I didn’t ask for, didn’t want and that I tried real hard to stop. But you can’t control other people and you can’t control the weather, so I found myself as a reluctant over-50 single still living in my same Five Towns home, still going to the same synagogues, still driving the same car, still having the same cleaning lady (nine years now) and same secretary (eight). Unfortunately, my prior business of 18 years was being severely battered by the recession when my ex bolted from our home a year and a half ago so I had to contend with the dual stresses of personal heartache and professional tzurris. I don’t recommend this to anyone. Thankfully, I have a very loving family and some truly amazing friends and neighbors that helped me through.

The last time I was truly single was around 1995-96 which was way before the ubiquity of mobile phones, Blackberrys, i-Phones, internet dating, text messaging, BBM-ing and the like. It’s been kind of a Rip Van Winkle experience learning the new fangled dating etiquette (yes, there has been a dating paradigm-shift in the past 15 years and it’s not like it was “back in the day.”). First and foremost it has been an odyssey of oddity as older members of the opposite sex are not the same at say, 40, as they were at 25. Many of those who never married have frankly spent way too much time “professionally dating” (going on hundreds of first and second dates) so that they could really just send a video and/or they’ve spent so much time living alone that the concept of sharing everyday life is an unfathomable and alien concept.

Then there are those who have sadly become embittered and jaded by past relationships and /or marriages to such an extent that all new men they meet are tainted with “original sin,” i.e., all men are guilty of being dogs until proven otherwise and the burden of proof on any guy can be exhausting and extensive. These women are often the polar opposite of the wide-eyed romantic and willing young woman of 15 years ago. And there are a lot fewer of them because so many ladies between 35-45 are married now with kids.

Manhattan is the center of middle aged (and all ages really) single life, so I’ve put my EZ-pass to work along with my rear “Bumper Buddy,” and trucked a lot into The City to meet and date. The Amex card also has gotten some exercise. Many women find me to be “G.U.” (geographically undesirable) as their world ends at the East or Hudson Rivers but I’m not moving back into some tiny place in Manhattan if I can help it. That’s why God invented cars, EZ-pass and the LIRR. (Well, maybe the Devil invented the LIRR).

So far I’ve not been able to re-create the bright sparks and deep chemistry (both emotional, intellectual and physical) of prior committed relationships but its only been a year now and Spring is finally here, my pink tulips are in full, glorious bloom and I’m thankfully dating. I’ll keep you all periodically posted on my social progress in this second-life quest for middle-aged love. You can read some of my prior blog posts on this subject at Wuugu.com and look in this space for ongoing tales of adventure from the suburban single and fabulous.