Art imitates life.

As if you didn't have enough Trump in your life, he is the subject of a feature article in next Sunday's NY Times magazine. In some of the small talk with the author the subject commented on his cleanliness and once having to admonish a guest at a social function for double dipping the salsa. This reminded me of George Costanza of Seinfeld fame who also was rebuked for double dipping at a funeral reception. Perhaps we can consider this as life imitating art.
tjs

Supermoon

Sunday, Sept. 27 we will see a Super moon
in our hemisphere along with an eclipse which hasn't been seen in 32 years. I hope your skies are clear as Phila. may see some rain. This will also bring high tides as I write this from Cape May, N.J. two blocks from the beach. I hope the precipitation stays south and doesn't rain on the Pope's parade.
tjs

Yogi-isms

Lawrence "Yogi" Berra left us this week, a superb athlete and citizen of Montclair, N.J. While he had an outstanding baseball career he is also celebrated for his unintended witticisms, although he said he didn't say them all.
-About a restaurant: Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
-To a graduating class: If you come to a fork in the road, take it.
-Or to a coach: I can't think and hit at the same time.
-To a rookie: If you can't imitate him, don't copy him.
And, of course, it ain't over til it's over.
Well, the game may be over for Yogi but the memory lingers on.
tjs

The Lowly Bagel

Traditionally, a real Jewish bagel is made from dough rolled by hand, coiled into rings and boiled in a kettle before being baked in a wood fired oven. It was said to symbolize the circle of life. A traditional baker could turn out 120 bagel in an hour. As late as 1960 the NY Times described it for its national readers as "an unsweetened doughnut with rigor mortis." But around that time an outlier invented a bagel making machine that could produce 400 per hour which provoked purists to say "It denatured the soul of a cherished cultural artifact." As a former New Yorker I'll take mine with a "schmear". And remember the plural of bagel is bagel.
tjs
(A bow to M. Fox the obit writer of the NYT)

Autumnal equinox

Tomorrow, September 23rd, is the first day of Autumn in the northern hemisphere. It recalls the following toast: "Here's to our first parents, Adam and Eve, who wore fig leafs - that's all! And here's to my favorite season, Autumn, when the leaves begin to fall!"
tjs

Roman Holiday

In light of the Pope's impending visit I am reminded of the following story about the fellow visiting his barber and announcing his forthcoming visit to Rome. The following exchange ensued:
Barber: Where are you staying?
Customer: The Excelsior Hotel - it is five stars and recommended.
B - It's overpriced - the service is terrible- you won't enjoy it. What else are you doing?
C - We plan dinner at Alfredo's.
B - It's a tourist trap - overrated - you won't enjoy it. What else have you planned
C - We have arranged an audience with the Pope.
B - You will be behind the ropes - you won't even see him.
A month later the tourist is back in the chair.
B- So how was your trip?
C - The Excelsior had flowers in the room and they couldn't be more gracious. And Alfredo himself served us the fettucine. And we had a private audience with the Holy Father.
B - I'm very impressed. What did the Pope say to you?
C - He asked me where I got the lousy haircut.
tjs

Mega Mergers

Something is "brewing" in the beer industry - Budweiser wants to merge with Miller. This is bigger than Macy wanting Gimbels. Their market share has been shrinking as consumers shift to wine and craft beers so the Clydesdale wagons are circling to stem the flow. Investor and anti-trusts issues have to be addressed so don't let your "brewski" go flat while you're waiting as the suds fade away.
tjs

Climate Change

In 1872 Lewis Carroll wrote the following lines:
"The time has come the walrus said - to talk of many things - of shoes & ships & sealing wax - of cabbages and kings - and why THE SEA IS BOILING HOT and whether pigs have wings." Now 140+ years later, if the sea isn't boiling it certainly is warming. Yesterday we read that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has declined to create "floating platforms" for Pacific walruses that come ashore because they lack summer sea ice in a phenomenon attributed to climate change.
tjs

Tourism

As Summer winds down we are learning of the hardships of the current tourist season.
Foreign tourists picnicking in an Egyptian desert were shot at from a military helicopter. And it appears that the thousands of migrants passing thru the Munich, Germany rail station will be met by millions of revelers heading to Octoberfest which should magnify the chaos. And in Idaho, they have had to close a hiking trail due to aggressive mountain goats butting and biting the hikers. A tough season for tourists all around.
tjs

Semper Paratus

This is the motto of the U.S. Coast Guard who have their training station in Cape May, N.J. the seaside resort to which we returned at the end of the rental season. We spent the first day replacing light bulbs. After this strenuous activity it was time for happy hour but I was shocked to find that the only cork screw in the house was broken - there would be no wine tonight! True to the Coast Guard motto we fell back to plan B and settled for champagne with a popping cork. In light of this unsettling discovery this blogger will be out of pocket until after Labor Day.
tjs

Primarily Political II

With Trump wanting to build a wall on the

south border we now have another candidate mentioning a wall on our north border. With the Canadian dollar currently worth seventy-five cents U.S. the Canadians can't afford to come down here as attested by the Jersey Shore towns who don't hear those French accents this summer. Conversely, if Trump gets anywhere near the Oval office I am
 booking a flight to Toronto.

Chris Christie's latest brainchild is to invite FedEx to explore tracing all immigrants with visas thru a system that starts with their arrival and follows one throughout ones presence in the U.S.A.. Not sure whether this includes a chip on the shoulder or what but treats everyone like a package. Mr. Brown at UPS may want in on the action.
Dr. Ben Carson has been creeping up on Trump in Iowa - he professes to be a brain surgeon but has been laying on a lot of anesthesia on these good folks.
tjs

Random Thoughts

Last week the Bronx Zoo announced the birth of a baby porcupine - a male - the third offspring of these parents. I am reminded of that old riddle - "How do porcupines make love?" The answer is "Gingerly". But after three successful tries they seem to have the hang of it.

That man Donald Trump has been stressing to those God-fearing folks in Iowa of his love for the Bible - which far outranks his own publications. I was wondering if he has placed Gideon Bibles in all those thousands of hotel rooms he talks about.

Speaking of the Bible, I no longer see that fellow with the placard reading JOHN 3:16 at any sporting event. In the beginning I thought he was referring to Tommy John's Earned Run Average.
tjs