All Aboard

There is an old Jewish custom of planting a tree in Israel to commemorate a family event. But now the Transportation Minister wants to build a rail stop in the Old City and name it after Trump. It will cost $700 million and take five years of digging, etc. The next challenge would be to have the trains run on time. Benito Mussolini tried to have his trains run on time and you know what happened to him. Good luck Transportation Minister Katz!

tjs

The Word of the Year

This is the season when all the various dictionaries proclaim their "word" of the year 2017. My vote is a tie:
A - "process" - day after day the drone goes on from the W.H. podium, processing the various processes ad nauseum.
B - "inappropriate" might seem more appropriate in light of current news highlights.
You are entitled to your own favorite which will be forgotten in the New Year.
tjs

Local Color

The NYTimes travel section offered suggestions for bar hopping when traveling. Avoid the hotel bars and seek out the bartenders to recommend where the locals imbibe. Some years ago some friends and I were bareboating in New England waters and we put in to New Bedford, Mass. an old whaling port. Seeking local color, we four entered a local establishment and my friend began chatting up a "local" at the bar, saying how impressed we were with the town and its whaling museum. The gent turned to us and said "This town sucks!" We beat a hasty retreat and hoisted the anchor. Color me blue!
tjs

Disney's Hall of Presidents

Disney's Hall of Presidents in the Magic Kingdom is set to reopen adding a "likeness" of Donald Trump which some say resembles actor Jon Voight. He stands between Grant and Lincoln - the "fifty" and the "five" and the arm gestures are spot on but the rest reflects the revenge of a Democratic makeup man. At first he had a silent role but that would never do. Madame Tussaud at her wax museum in Orlando was heard tittering - her Trump is better looking but has to stay out of the
sun - like Icarus. Disney is expecting too much Magic in their Kingdom.
tjs

Lend me Your Ear

A movie with an interesting background is set for release at Christmas - titled "All the Money in the World." It involves the family of J. Paul Getty, an oil baron of the last century. It seems his teenage grandson was kidnapped in Italy in 1973 and the culprits demanded $17 million in ransom which the old man refused to pay. They held the boy for five months during negotiations eventually cutting off his ear and mailing it to a Rome newspaper to prove their point. Eventually, the lad was released for $3million. The background drama to making this film was that Kevin Spacey was replaced by Christopher Plummer, age 88 with little time for splicing. The basic story called to mind O. Henry's "The ransom of red chief" but in that the kidnapped boy drove his captors crazy and they paid the parents to take back their son. Getty III wasn't so lucky in Italy.
tjs

Women Power

This is the year of the Women - not just on magazine covers. They actually carried the day in Alabama.  But one hundred years ago there was another convergence of power. It was the year 1920 and the Temperance ladies joined with the Suffragettes and the result was Prohibition and the Women's vote. Hard to believe that Prohibition lasted thirteen years - one can get awfully thirsty - but it indicates the power women can wield when you turn them loose. I stand in awe!
tjs

Eat Mor Chikin

A church in the Old City of Philadelphia has displayed a live Nativity scene since 1973. But a few nights ago, Stormy the Cow broke out of her enclosure and went for a stroll in the neighborhood. At first she refused to be "cowed" but police and a farm vet convinced her to return to her stable setting. They never did find out what was her "beef".
tjs

Hot Holiday Toys

You parents will recall the fever for Cabbage Patch Kids & Beanie Babies. This year's hot holiday toy is called the "Fingerling" - a five inch toy monkey that grips your finger with its legs and arms - it babbles, blows kisses and blinks its eyes. But wait - that's not all - press the Fingerling's head and it passes gas! - the dream toy of every adolescent boy. Priced at $15. Walmart is stocking up. Was thinking if Santa has a rough trip this year, if you don't hear him land on the roof, you might smell him coming down the chimney. Forget the milk and cookies. For an attempt at propriety, the ads are only displaying the index finger. This announcement courtesy of the Sunday
Business Section of the NY Times. The Old Grey Lady actually used the phrase "a $15. farting monkey." And on Sunday!
tjs

Noel Coward

As a closet Anglophile, I have always enjoyed Noel  Coward's long list of music that he authored. Someone once asked him to write something "quintessentially" British and he composed the following about his favorite pub "The Rose & Crown".
"Saturday night at the Rose & Crown is just the place to be - soldiers and sailors - tinkers and tailors - out on the town for a bit of a spree if you're - weary of life with your husband or wife - and the kids are getting you down - things will all turn right on Saturday night - at the Rose & Crown." Buy me a pint and I'll sing you the melody.
tjs

Mind Your Ps & Queues

Sarah Lyall spent seventeen years in London as the NYTimes correspondent. With British royalty again in the news, her column last Saturday recalled a reception attended by a friend some years ago. It seemed that the Queen was a surprise guest and a reception line was hastily arranged. Her friend had not yet had dinner but she had had several glasses of champagne. As she reached the Queen, the monarch greeted her with "I understand that you're from Texas." The friend, confused by the Queen's clipped accent, thought she said "Have you paid your taxes?" Replying to such a personal question by a British Monarch, the guest uttered "No taxation without representation".
And that was the end of the conversation.....but a diplomatic brouhaha was avoided.
tjs

Bitcoin

Bitcoin - very much in the news again is also known as crypto currency - is very popular with smugglers and others interested in committing fraud. It has no regulation - fluctuates wildly - and Goldman Sachs won't touch it. But it does away with paper currency. Michael Bloomberg, being interviewed, mentioned that China is trying to do away with cash. The beggars on the street don't accept cash. They show donors a sign with their code number and well wishers flash their iphone to donate their offering. All nice and clean. One hundred years ago, John D. Rockefeller, he of Standard Oil fame, used to hand out dimes. If he visited Shanghai today he would be laughed out of town. During our Great Depression the cry often heard was "Brother, can you spare a dime?" Another time, another place.
tjs