Friday, January 7, 2011
Enzymes in Action-1/6/11-NYC Edition
A list of the places I've graced, the fare there consumed, and the motives for doing so on the Jan. 6, 2011
Chez Linda, Quiche
Big Wong, Hot (oh so very hot!) and Sour Soup. BBQ'd Duck & Veggies
YaYa Tea, Osmanthus, a tea ideal for "allaying tooth aches," according to my homeopathetic barista. "How does homeopathy work?" you might ask...for the answer click here.
Lansky's, $1.25 Sloppy Joe Sliders. Grilled Cheese Pastrami Sandwich. And to drink, a Vanilla Egg Cream.
Gray's Papaya: Hot Dog and Papaya Juice.
Chez Linda, Quiche
She's my mother. She makes a mean spinach quiche. What more can I say?
Zagat's gives it a 22 for food, a 5 for decor, and an 11 for service. It's a hole-in-the-wall refuge for those poor saps with Jury Duty on their lunch break. Soup was served in a bowl which favored the proportions of a bird bath. Duck and veggies were phenomenal. Looking my victim's siblings in the eye as I ate their brother was a plus.
YaYa Tea, Osmanthus, a tea ideal for "allaying tooth aches," according to my homeopathetic barista. "How does homeopathy work?" you might ask...for the answer click here.
Lansky's, $1.25 Sloppy Joe Sliders. Grilled Cheese Pastrami Sandwich. And to drink, a Vanilla Egg Cream.
The enjoyment of these finger foods is worth the future price of congestive heart failure.
Meanwhile, the the whole of the Egg Cream proves to be greater than the sum of its parts (syrup, seltzer, and milk). It does, however, beg the question, "where the heck are the eggs?"
A fine finish to a fabulous day. If you don't know how good it is, I can't convince you. Order yourself the Recession Special next time you're in town. Economic downturns never tasted so good.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Playlist
As far as the Incarnation is concerned, I believe firmly in it…Eternity steps into Time, and Time loses itself in Eternity. Hence Jesus, in the eyes of God, a Man, and, in the eyes of men a God. It’s sublimely simple: a transcendental soap opera going on century after century in which there have been endless variations in the script, in the music, in the dialogue, but in which one thing remains constant—the central figure, Jesus. ~Malcolm Muggeridge
Prelude—“For my Lord, for my Lord”
1 Workin’ on a Building..... Blue Ridge Rangers
Chapter One—“‘Nuthin’ & Nobody”
2 Introductio
3 Dreams.....
4 Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard (Live).......Simon & Garfunkel
5 Lobachevsck
6 This Must Be The Place......Miles Fisher
7 I’ll Do For You Anything You Want Me To........Barry White
Chapter Two—“When I Drink Alone, I Prefer to Be by Myself”
8 I Got It From Agnes.........Tom Lehrer
9 Get a Haircut..........George Thorogood & The Destroyers
10 (Teleological) Barbershop.........Artist Unknown [Headphones and Eyes Wide Shut For Best Effect]
11 I Drink Alone.......George Thorogood & The Destroyers
12 A Vegas Story.......The Lost Dogs
Chapter Three—“Watergate Happened For You”
13 Angels We Have Heard On High.......Sufjan Stevens
14 Christmas Must Be Tonight........The Band
15 Why We Are We Here/ Ticket to Heaven.......Tim Keller feat. Dire Straits
16 Weapon of Prayer.........The Notting Hillbillies
17 Wake Me Up On Judgment Day........Steve Winwood
Epilogue—“Sounds Like the Mormon Tubercular Choir”
18 30,000 Pounds of Bananas (Live).......Harry Chapin
In celebrating Christmas, the Incarnation, we celebrate the arrival of Immanuel, God With Us. With that in mind, we realize Christmas is a story of relationships. In fact, when rightly viewed, all redemptive history is the story of relationships. The plot goes like this: Relationships Forged, Forsaken, Forgotten, and Fixed. This alliterative group formed the framework out of which the following playlist developed.
We see in the Prologue how it ought to be, a community of people, like spokes in a wheel, rightly related to one another because of their right relationship to the Hub of Hubs, God.
Yet, Chapter One casts a stark contrast. No longer bound by a right relationship, this motley crew claims to be beholden to “Nuthin’ & Nobody.” Arrogance, Discontent, and Dishonesty are the means, while self-indulgence is the chief end.
Chapter Two considers the social costs. The tear from God has spread to a rift within fabric of humanity. Though the Teleological Barbershop calls for all who have ears to hear, the hope for something bigger goes unnoticed as The Destroyers return for a riotous encore. Alone, ashamed, and destitute, the singer of A Vegas Story recognizes that on his own he is “dead.” And with this realization, he cries out in the final verse, “Oh Lord my soul redeem!”
In the Advent Season, the Lost Dogs’ longing is our own. With Christmas, we celebrate God’s answer. The otherworldly opening of Chapter Three is quite apropos as that is exactly where our salvation needs to originate—from afar. Riding the coattails of the angels, The Band delivers a carol of celestial brilliance. Then Muggeridge’s quip “sublimely simple” finds an illustration in Keller’s monologue, with the ambient support of Dire Straits. What remains then, was best put forth by Alexander Dumas’ final words in The Count of Monte Cristo, "Until the day when God shall deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is summed up in these two words—Wait and hope."
But what does it all mean? Why an Epilogue? The Incarnation led to the act by which God restored and reinstated a community. Yet, in many ways we still sound like the “Mormon Tubercular Choir” (which is less a jab at residents of Utah, and more a reference to pulmonary illness). But despite being cosmically tone deaf, God doesn’t hear our weak, flat, sorry howling. Instead, our strains find their tune in the powerful voice of the only God who ever dared to be with us, Our Immanuel. Merry Christmas.
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