The Zeitgeist

     

The divinely inspired marriage of wasabi and herring into wasabi herring is now changing the face of herring consumption. From left: wasabi sauce, picked herring, herrings in their natural state before being filleted and the classic herring in cream sauce with onions.

In Praise of Wasabi Herring

Like most sophisticated New Yorkers I consume a lot of sushi. For some reason, denizens of The Empire State can’t get enough of raw fish seasoned with all manner and type of exotic spices and veggies. It’s protein, it’s light and no one feels guilty consuming four pounds of the stuff (as opposed to potato kugel). There is however one form of sashimi that is the Rodney Dangerfield of fish – I’m talking about the lowly herring. Once consumed with much obsessive gusto by Jewish New Yorkers (on a par or exceeding that of lox/nova/smoked salmon) with the accretion of the new generation the demure herring has fallen out of favor with broad swaths of our society. Herring in wine sauce, matjes herring and herring in cream sauce were once staples of the New York Jewish diet. With the diminution of herring’s popularity, what is a self-respecting appetizing man to do? Throw in the towel? Move on to other aquatic creatures?

Well, thanks to some creative and inventive minds the herring is being rescued and reinvented (re-engineered even?) for an entirely new generation. Driven by the need to have something to eat with numerous shots of Scotch and other dark liquors on Saturday mornings by Modern Orthodox Jews (one can’t have spirituality without spirits) and equally needing some greater diversity from egg salad and vegetarian chopped liver (what, am I veggie chopped liver?) the geniuses at such Five Towns appetizing establishments as Schwartz’s in Gourmet Glatt and at Brach’s have come up with herring in green wasabi sauce. Now, this has taken herring into an entirely new dimension – a dimension of ancient Far East Asian wisdom – whereby in the deep Japanese tradition of appropriating Western inventions (the herring in this instance) like cars and TVs and making them way better, the herring has been liberated from it’s Lower East Side Jewish and Scandinavian roots and transported to the realm of gourmet sashimi thanks to being marinated in and with wasabi sauce. Truly an inspired and amazing combination of tastes (a “duh” combo like chocolate and peanut butter) it makes one wonder why no one had thought of this before. Now, I don’t know if this was invented in my little corner of Long Island (I’ll have to put a team of crack investigative journalists on this) but wasabi herring only made its appearance here less than a year ago and based on the reaction at Kiddush tables, I predict BIG things for wasabi herring globally.

Following up on this innovation, the appetizing gods have also recently devised herring in spicy pink mayo and in a mustard sauce and something called "Mediterranean Herring", not as good as the wasabi version but plenty original and tasty just the same. These are not your grandfather’s herrings. What it wash this down with? Why, Yamazaki 12 or 18-year-old Japanese Single Malt, naturally. The Japanese have managed to deconstruct Scotch and put it back together again even better than they do in Scotland. Bonsai bubby!

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The Zeitgeist

                      

Poster to the 1968 film “Wild In The Streets,” Tunisians being wild in their streets, deposed Egyptian despot Hosni Mubarak (center) hopefully soon to be deposed Libyan strongman Muamar Ghadaffi ((third from left), author Yehuda Avner as an advisor to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the cover of his book, “the Prime Ministers (right).

Wild In The Streets

There was a movie out in 1968 staring Hal Holbrook, Ed Begley (Sr.), Shelley Winters, Richard Pryor and a whole host of other character actors that was labeled as “Science Fiction/Horror” called “Wild In The Streets,” the premise of this B-movie was that America is taken over by the majority of the then U.S. population – namely the baby boomers who were all under 25. The young folks put everyone over 30 in concentration camps and forced retirement on LSD. (See trailer here – hysterical -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRLwV2xafpk). The theme song of the film was (Nothing Can Change the) “Shape of Things To Come” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqsxF_zt700&feature=related) which is a fairly good tune actually. While the film was a fictitious major exaggeration, the U.S. was in fact then dealing with a disaffected “youthquake” in the late 60’s which really did see a lot of wild protests in the streets and campuses. The country was in an upheaval that led to socio-cultural changes that have had lasting ramifications right up to the present day and those baby boomers are still a plurality of the U.S. population.

The Middle East has been experiencing their own 60’s-type of revolution lately. First Tunisia, then Egypt, probably Libya will see the end of Ghaddaffi real soon. Rioting in Yemen, Bahrain and other places (too bad Obama didn’t lift a finger to help the Iranian street protestors a year and a half ago, a wasted opportunity to trash the Ayatollahs…) These “people power” revolutions are being fueled mainly by the majority populations in these countries, specifically, the young people. Most Arab and Muslim nations’ populations have far more people under 30 than over it and these folks are tired of being oppressed and repressed by the Mandarins and geezer septuagenarian dictators (notwithstanding their “Just For Men” dyed-black hair) along with no personal freedom, no economic opportunity and the ancient Levantine way of graft, corruption and embezzlement. Generations often feel the need to shape their world according to their own vision and want a chance to do so. When this is indefinitely bottled up, the pressure will invariably build and explode the top right off. The Chinese Communists have been cynically brilliant in allowing personal expression (just not political expression) and economic opportunity functioning as steam pressure valves enabling them to they cling to power. The Arab despots generally have offered no outlet for their young folks.

JFK in his inaugural address spoke about “the torch being passed to a new generation,” which at that time referred to the ascension of "The Greatest Generation” (the WWII babies) to power over the WWI and Roaring 20’s generation. If there is never a sharing, let alone a passing of the torch, eventually the young will erupt in some way, shape or form. This happened twenty years ago in the former USSR, in Iron Curtain countries like East Germany, Poland, Romania, etc., especially as Western popular culture permeated the stifling censorship of the dictatorships. The big mistake of the Arab despots has been allowing the Internet in and also allowing U.S. television and movies and music in. Once people see there is a better world out there and that their world is stuck somewhere in the Middle Ages, atavistic repression doesn’t stand a chance against cell phones, laptops, blue jeans, dance music, YouTube, Hollywood, McDonald’s and more. Hopefully, as in Eastern Europe this will auger in a better democratic free society. The rub here will be ensuring (and I hope the Obama Administration is listening and won’t pull a “Jimmy Carter” vis-à-vis Iran) that Islamic theocracies don’t take the place of the current secular fascist dictatorships. But even in this country, young people need to see opportunities for economic, career and personal advancement because when hopelessness prevails, unrest won’t be too far off.

“The Prime Ministers”

Yehuda Avner had a long and storied career in Israel’s foreign service stretching over several decades. He worked on the staffs of four prime ministers, including Levi Eshkol (during the stressful days of the Six Day War), Gold Meir (during the stressful days of the Yom Kippur War), Yitzhak Rabin (during the stressful days of the Entebbe rescue) and Menachem Begin (during the stressful days of the Lebanon War). Avner, an immigrant from Manchester, England to Israel in 1947, chronicles the first forty years of the state from some of the most insider perspectives possible – the proverbial “fly on the wall” right in the inner sanctums of prime ministers during critical moments, crises and challenges. Avner was present at meetings with several U.S. presidents, European prime ministers and royalty. He also served for a time later in his career as Ambassador to Great Britain. Because Avner kept a daily diary for most of his life along with copious notes of key meetings, he gives the reader actual verbatim dialog of discourses between prime ministers and presidents, ambassadors and cabinet members, celebrities and the celebrated. Weighing-in at over 700 pages, “The Prime Ministers” is not a read for the faint of heart and the hardcover is quite a hefty tome (I actually took this to the beach in Florida for several days, demonstratively impressing people with my supposed intellectualism and/or penchant for weight training) and it will take you a while to get through, but every page is a delight and a surprise, like unwrapping unexpected gifts at holidays or birthdays. Avner has a great storytelling style that is engrossing and entertaining. Probably one of the top five books ever written on Israeli history and politics, it is a must for anyone interested in the first decades of the state.

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The Zeitgeist

           

 

Yes, there are beautiful women who are wonderful human beings. Daylight Savings Time returns in less than a month. The late Len Lesser in “Kelley’s Heroes” and with Jerry Seinfeld as Uncle Leo. The façade of a Swiss Bank (literally and figuratively) and Volkswagen’s great commercial, “The Force.”

 

Clarification and Amplification

My short piece last week entitled “Pretty is as Pretty Does” generated a whole lot of bi-polar reaction, by that I mean that the men loved it and agreed with it and nearly all the women were either grievously offended at worst or irritated at best. Venus and Mars. Let me just state for the record that this was a broad personal generalization backed by not a scintilla of scientific data. It was also meant to be taken tongue-in-cheek. Moreover, I did state quite clearly in there that my observations were “prevalent not universal.” There are pretty women whose personality is wonderful and saintly  and there are non-attractive women who are horrible human beings. This is equally true. But here’s a song on the subject we all can laugh at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh9ZZgDqzAg.

Warm Weather

Basking in today’s near tropical heat in New York (about 60 degrees) made me realize that aside from Spring, there is something else in the offing – in less than a month we’ll see the return of Daylight Savings Time (in the midst of our recent Siberian winter, I just about plumb forgot there ever was such a thing as Daylight Savings Time). On Sunday morning March 13^th we’ll see the return of “summertime,” which means for those of us among the Jewish Sabbath observant that on Saturday, March 19^th, here on Long Island the Sabbath will end at 7:46 p.m., which is insanely late considering it may very well still be cold outside with limited options to enjoy the extended daylight. It also means really late Passover Seders on April 18^th. But the good thing will finally be being able to leave work in the light and leave for work in said light. Nothing like living like a mole for several months here in New York. I also broke out my leather coat today, foregoing the various down-filled get-ups I’ve been encasing my svelte frame in since late December. I think we’ve seen the last of the sub-freezing temperatures (hopefully) even if we get into the high 30s here and there…

Len Lesser OBM

Many of you have heard already that Seinfeld’s “Uncle Leo,” played by Len Lesser, passed away yesterday at 88. Although he only appeared in 15 episodes of “Seinfeld” his was an outstanding comedic presence. The character was an amalgam of so many New York Jews of his generation (I had some relatives like Uncle Leo…). The “Greatest Generation” is losing people each and every day now and these folks can never be duplicated or replaced. Lesser also had a prolific career, according to the Associated Press: “Lesser's lengthy list of television credits included parts on "Get Smart," "That Girl," "The Munsters," "The Monkees," "The Rockford Files," "thirtysomething," "ER," and "Everybody Loves Raymond," which featured Lesser in a recurring role as the arm-shaking Garvin. His film credits included "Outlaw Josey Wales," "Kelly's Heroes," "Birdman of Alcatraz" and "Death Hunt." He most recently appeared on the TV drama "Castle." I loved him as the bridge-building engineer in Kelley’s Heroes,” which is one of my all time favorite WWII movies. He will be missed.

Swiss Bank Accounts

With the demise of Hosni Mubarack of Egypt, we learned that he managed to squirrel away some $80 billion from his country over the course of his 30 year reign. How much of this came from U.S. taxpayers (indirectly) I wonder? Anyway, the Swiss in their sanctimonious self-righteousness announced that they were freezing his assets now that he’s been deposed. This begs the question – why do the Swiss accept these huge deposits from private individuals who are leaders of despotic regimes in the first place? Nothing fishy about someone who is an official of a country wiring in a few billion into their personal account? Where can you get a hold of this kind of scratch if not illegally or immorally? When the Swiss publicly announce that any president of a country walking in with ginormous amounts of cash will be turned away at the get-go, then I’ll be impressed with Swiss banking integrity. Oh, and their holding onto all those Holocaust victim accounts…?

Cute Commercials: 

There are a few TV commercials right now that are really pushing the boundaries of creativity and humor. I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you:

First up is Volkswagen’s Super Bowl spot called “The Force,” very funny and touching all at the same time. I don’t know if it will sell cars but hundreds of millions of people have seen this spot both on TV and YouTube. Best VW commercial ever, probably. http://www.youtube.com/vw#p/a/u/0/R55e-uHQna0. Also great right now is a spot for Jim Beam Bourbon called “Parallels,” which is about “bold choices” in life. Shot in black and white and featuring the famous actor Willem Dafoe it shows how we are the sum total of the choices we make in our lives for better or worse. Great art in 60 seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Ofjm2TKUE&oref=http://www.youtube.com/results%3Fsearch_query%3Djim%2Bbeam%2Bbold%2Bchoices%2Bcommercial%26aq%3D

Next up is a spot that is so camp and also so insidiously annoying that its incredibly effective, worming it’s way into your brain. It’s Taco Bell pushing a burrito with “Four Times The Steak” with a lounge-lizard approach that is funny and effective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcixlBtZGmA. Here is a commercial touting Mercedes Benz’s amazing traction in snow and ice. The commercial is called “Not In This Weather,” and is so provocative that it has been flat-out banned from being aired on TV. It is also about choices and morality but is so eloquently and artfully done as to make you really think. It’s also funny.  Exceptional: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi47UcyK4Ms. Finally, although I’m not putting the link here, what about the new Windows Phone commercial that shows a guy using a Blackberry at a urinal and actually dropping it into said urinal with the guy next to him saying “Really?!” Let me just say this is funny because I’ve actually seen men at urinals in restaurants, ballparks and such using their Blackberrys and similar devices. I think there is a line for Blackberry use that ought not be crossed, and the men’s room is certainly right there…

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