Actually, this is only a review of the first half of the concert, excerpts of Handel’s Messiah.

In the Spring of 2013, I had the pleasure of attending the Spring Concert of the Oratorio Society of Queens. The Oratorio Society performed an obscure work by Puccini, Puccini’s Mass, which is very rarely performed. The performance was exceptional and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience of this relatively unknown work. So it was with great anticipation that went to the Oratorio Society’s Holiday Concert performance at Queensboro Community College.

The Spring concert had a large number of seats available when I went to the box office on  the performance date just minutes before the concert began so I anticipated that the holiday concert would have the same number of seats available or more given the fact that the Dec concert was less “esoteric” than Puccini’s Mass. I was wrong. Only 3 seats were left when I went to the box office 1 1/2 hours before the concert: one seat in the middle of the balcony, one seat down front in row “B” and one seat in the last row of the orchestra, 4 seats off the aisle. I took that seat which offered me a great view of everyone on stage. I was fortunate to get ANY seat given the popularity of the performance.

As much as I dislike Handel Operas, I am a big fan of Handel’s Messiah. But I’m a Messiah “purist” believing that piece should be performed in its entirety. The Oratorio Society chose to perform “excerpts” from the piece, curiously omitting the Hallelujah Chorus. Tenor John Easterlin was extraordinary.  From the first note out of his mouth it was obvious that he is an exceptional performer. His strong, richly toned voice filled the concert hall which has excellent acoustics . In fact, he was almost too loud for the venue but it didn’t matter because his gorgeous voice was a pleasure to listen to. Sadly, he had the least amount  to sing of the soloists and, personally, I thought  his presence there was wasted on the short piece he performed given how outstanding he was. Soprano Geraldine Mcmillian was, for the most part, fine in her singing role, but sounded a bit abrasive at times. The audience was very warm in their applause for Ms. Mcmillian but lukewarm in their applause for Mr. Easterlin which was surprising. Bass Baritone Vaughn Fritts was the third singer, who, curiously, has the most to perform of the soloists. While he had a pleasant voice, Mr. Fritts, at times, was unable to sing loud enough to project over the orchestra and was occasionally drowned out by the orchestra. Having a Handel orchestra drown out a soloist is a rarity. Timing also was a problem. In one instance he continued the last note after the orchestra stopped playing. Perhaps he was just having an off night?  On to the Chorus. The Oratorio Society’s chorus proved itself as a group of fine performers in Puccini’s mass so I expected the same here. I was surprisingly disappointed. However, I tend to believe the criticism should be reserved for the chorus master rather than the chorus itself. I tend to believe that the chorus master during rehearsals listened to the chorus from the stage. We, as concertgoers, listen to the performance from the venue’s seats. It was hard to believe that the chorus for Handel’s Messiah was the same chorus that performed so flawlessly in Puccini’s mass. The chorus’ sound was distinctly unbalanced with the male basses and the female sopranos being most prominent, dominating all the other voices. This was especially evident in the “To us a child us born” excerpt. This was disappointing because it was clear that each and every one of the chorus members had a voice that would contribute to the greatness of this work. However, the imbalance of the voices was really distracting from an otherwise exceptional performance.

I really wanted to stay for at least half of the second half after intermission, but I would have had to leave early. My row was filled with concertgoers in wheelchairs and with walkers so it would have been extremely awkward to get up in the middle of the second half to leave. As a result I missed the second half of the concert and I tend to believe I might have missed the better half.

Having seen Puccini’s Mass it is clear to me that the oratorio society is capable of handling difficult material and coming through with an excellent performance. I am really looking forward to Bruckner’s Mass in the Spring!

I really want to share my experience of my new job working at the Rikers Island Prison.  There is so much to cover, from so many different perspectives. Hopefully, this will be an incentive to start a blog about Rikers. 

Over the past few days, I have been reading some posts from my Facebook friends who condemn the thought that parents have their children believing that there is a fictional person named “Santa Claus”. They claim that having their children believing in Santa Claus is lying to their children which is, frankly, wrong. I disagree. 

When I was growing up in the 1960’s, my parents told me that Santa Claus existed. He would come to our house each year and go down the chimney. However, because of the way our homes were built, he wasn’t able to bring his sleigh so he arrived by helicopter. For a few years, I honestly believed that Santa arrived by helicopter. Then one day, I found my Christmas gifts hidden in a closet. I confronted my parents and it was then that they told me that Santa Claus wasn’t real. Did I get angry?  No. Was I disappointed? No. Because Santa was important to me. He represented a human being who had unconditional love for all the children around the world. They might have said that he saw if you were “naughty or nice”, but here was a man who went to EVERY child’s home on Christmas.. Even when I learned that Santa didn’t exist, I still appreciated the experience of the years when I really believed that someone on the Earth was capable of unconditional love and visited every child on Christmas. So for those who say parents shouldn’t have their children believe in Santa because they are lying to them, I say, bull. My belief in Santa helped me to believe that universal love existed in this world, and even when I learned that Santa didn’t exist, the message about universal love continued. As I play my Goodyear Christmas Album from 1967 in my SUV, I think back on Santa, the Christmas Trees, and the Christmas gifts I had as a child, and truly appreciate every moment of the experience. So Santa. Can I count on you coming down the Chimney this year?

Tomorrow, 10/9/2013 is my wedding day. I am marrying Mark Roth, my partner of 35 years. We met on October 9, 1978 when I was an undergraduate at NYU’s College of Arts and Sciences. After a short period of time, we committed to a relationship with each other. Over the next few months Mark’s parents and my parents would become the best of friends.  My parents cooked Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter dinner that we all enjoyed. Mark and I took an apartment together in 1981 and purchased a home together in 2004. Over the years, we have shared a great deal in our relationship. We traveled the world together, visiting places like Morocco, China, Japan, Australia, Poland, and countless others. Mark introduced me to  “entertainment arts” that I wasn’t familiar with  (opera, classical concerts, foreign film) and I introduced him to “entertainment arts” that he wasn’t familiar with (Concerts of Bruce Springsteen, Dion, Three Dog Night, Hootie and the Blowfish, Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons, Tom Jones, ) and numerous others. I also introduced him to “Casino Gambling” and helped him to learn video poker, baccarat, craps, and blackjack that we’ve played throughout the world. Mark introduced me to gourmet dining, and we’ve dined at some of the world’s finest restaurants together, including the Hassler Roof in Rome, Ritz Carlton Dining room in San Francisco, Gary Danko in SFO, Picasso in Las Vegas, and Le Bernardin, Jean Georges, and countless other restaurants in NYC. But throughout our relationship, the love we have for each other has grown more and more with each passing year. We communicate with each other, and understand and accept each others flaws and limitations.  My Cousin Sharyn is going to be our “witness” at our wedding tomorrow, and she keeps telling me just how big a deal this wedding is. Yet Mark and I just feel like it is a way to “officially” renew the vows that we made to one another 35 years ago.  We both need time away together. I’ve been unemployed since 6/30/13 and thanks to the incredible weather during July, August, and September I have enjoyed taking my bicycle to various communities and going for a bike ride each day. Mark hasn’t had time to take off, so our “honeymoon” if you can call it that, will be that much more meaningful. We were planning to spend time in Ocean City, MD, since we both love warm weather and boardwalks but the weather forecast is really bad. So we both agreed to spend our honeymoon in Provincetown, a community neither one of us has ever been to. We have it narrowed down to a motel with a hot tub (which I love!) and a Bed and Breakfast that is extremely well loved that is owned and managed by a gay male couple. My concern is that I’d like our honeymoon to be quiet and relaxing; but I would be concerned that if the gay couple that runs the bed and breakfast finds out about our marriage, they would probably throw a MAJOR party which really isn’t something either of us would like.  That said, we both “go with the flow” so time will tell what the next 35 years brings.  Mark… I love you!

But not about Obamacare, about my health insurance. As many know I was employed by my employer for 17 1/2 years.  While employed at my job I was a member of Union 1199. I was laid off on June 28, 2013 when the employer decided that Mental Health was not one of their “Core Missions”. I enrolled in the Union’s “Job Security Fund”. This provided a continuation of my health coverage benefits for up to 12 months while I was unemployed. In addition, the Job Security Fund provided a stipend to unemployment benefits to increase the benefits to 80% of the salary that I had when I was laid off. My only obligation was to pay $6.00 per month and agree to attend seminars regarding resume revisions, job interview skills, etc. Shortly after I was enrolled, I received a call from the Job Security Fund saying I wasn’t eligible to be enrolled. Why? Well, it turned out that there was a clause in the Union contract with my employer that said any employee who was employed for 10 or more years with the employer could not be laid off. So, since I couldn’t be laid off, according to the contract, I wasn’t eligible for the Job Security Fund.  This is kind of ironic. Those who worked at my employer for less than 10 years WERE eligible for the Job Security Fund benefits, but those who gave 10+ years weren’t.  I was able to be enrolled in my “partner in life’s” health insurance policy provided i gave them a letter indicating that I was no longer covered by health insurance. Well, 1199 wouldn’t provide me with that letter because they said it was still being negotiated between the Union lawyers and the Agency Lawyers. Fortunately, 1199 agreed to extend my medical benefits through 10/30/13 and if I fax them my unemployment benefits record during the last week of October they will extend the benefits through November. Well, I just accepted another 1199 job that begins on 11/4 and things are a little complicated here. Technically, since I have been unemployed for more than 45 days but less than 6 months, the medical benefits will begin 30 days from the date of employment. But.. If I renew my coverage under unemployment benefits the last week of October it will cover me through the last week of November. But.. one Union representative told me that since I’m still receiving the Union’s medical benefits, the new benefits should start immediately for a seamless transition. In the meantime, I received a letter from the Union saying that my MD was denied payment in August because I was not covered by the Medical Plan then even though I was. This fiasco is the reason that we really need National Health Insurance. I’m still anxious about the fact that, despite what the Union says, I might not have health insurance coverage from 10/31 -11/3.

Tommy Bahama is a clothing store chain, but 14 of their stores have restaurants connected to them. This evening, my dining partner and I decided to try Tommy Bahama in NYC. Since the store closed at 7pm, we had to enter the restaurant by climbing a spiral staircase after entering the “Marlin Bar”. Since we had a reservation, we were seated promptly. Well, actually, since only about 10% of the tables were occupied, we would have been seated promptly w/o a reservation I’d guess, but I’m not sure given our experience with this place.

We were offered a “complementary bottle of Natura sparkling or still water”. I declined. See, this restaurant normally offers free tap water, but charges $1.00 per person for the Natura water, with free refills, 50% of the money goes to some special water fund. I’m a big water drinker at dinner, so I’d go through that free bottle fast and I expected the $1.00 charge to kick in with the first bottle refill, so we declined and, after 10 minutes got tap water. My dining partner ordered a Beefeater Martini. The waiter asks if we want to order appetizers. No, we normally order appetizer and entrees at the same time. After 10 minutes, the waiter returned saying that the bartender had to get a new bottle of Beefeater Gin and apologized for the delay. They could have just asked if a different gin was acceptable and my dining partner would have been fine with Tanqueray. 20 minutes later, the martini arrives at precisely the time that I get a leg cramp and start walking it off. The manager approaches me and asks if he can help. I tell him “I got a leg cramp because I’ve been sitting for 30 minutes!”. I return to the table. I order Crab bisque and the Codfish special (Cod with ginger risotto). My dining partner orders a coconut shrimp appetizer and Sea Bass entree. We can’t share the shrimp since I’m allergic to shrimp. We wait, and wait. We ask for bread and are informed that bread is served BETWEEN the appetizer and entree. Really? We tell them to bring the bread now!  5 minutes later, some bread arrives. 10 minutes pass and the chef arrives from the kitchen. It seems my partner’s shrimp appetizer was mistakenly served to a different table. Three minutes later, my crab soup arrives as well as my partner’s shrimp and the chef arrives, apologizing for the error, and giving us complementary shrimp fritters. Great, they mess up and give us a dish that I can’t eat! 30 minutes later, entree’s arrive. My Cod special is a gigantic plate of risotto with a tiny portion of cod on top. My dining partner’s Bass looked good. My Cod was overcooked but not dry so I kept it, but the risotto also was lacking in any ginger taste, but I ate it. The bass, I was told, was good. My dining partner asked for a glass of white wine and. after walking off for 5 minutes, the manager brought over two wines to sample, one of which my dining partner greatly preferred over the other.  For dessert, my dining partner ordered the chocolate malt cake which tasted like a Ring Ding. I liked the taste I had of it; my dining partner said it was just OK.  Decaf coffee was excellent but my dining partner complained that the milk was too cold. When the check arrived the manager removed the charges for the glass of wine and for the shrimp appetizer.  That was a nice gesture, but this place really needs to get its act together. 

During the summer of the 1960’s, when I was in elementary school, my parents drove to the Jersey shore every Saturday during the summer. We went to a private bathing beach called “Sea Bay Park” in Mantoloking. NJ. After a couple of years, a motel, called the Thunderbird was built next to it. From 9am till 3pm I enjoyed the crashing waves while holding onto the ropes. I still remember the lunch, hamburgers with sand. But you know what? I’d love to have that experience again today. Then, after 3pm, my parents drove to Seaside Heights where I enjoyed the rides; the Tilt A Whirl, the Scrambler, and the Crazy Cups on the Funtown Pier. Then my mom, who was highly “psychic” would play the games of chance at Sonny and Rickies and other stands. At Sonny and Rickies, she came home with a Black Angus broiler, Oster Blender, Rival can opener, GE Clock Radio and countless other items. She also won cartons of her Winston cigarettes at a game where she rolled a ball into a hole. Then she won me cartons of candy! That was the Seaside of the 1960’s.  Today, Seaside is different. There are few games of chance and the ones that are present are basketball related or knock the jars off related which are far more difficult if not impossible. I have serious concerns about the recent boardwalk fire. Here’s why. After Sandy, Casino Pier did an extensive rebuilding. Funtown Pier, did not, and most of Funtown got destroyed in the fire. Last Wednesday, the day before the fire, I was walking in the area and considering getting a slice of pizza from Maruca’s  but I wasn’t hungry enough. Sad to say that Maruca’s from what I’ve heard was destroyed by the fire. I don’t think Seaside can ever return to what I loved in the 1960’s, because times were so different then. But maybe it can help us to work toward a direction for the future!

On 9/10/2001 I flew out of Kennedy Airport on America West to Las Vegas for a 3 night’s stay at Harrah’s. I picked up my car rental and  checked into Harrah’s and enjoyed the afternoon and evening in Las Vegas and returned to the hotel for what should have been a good night’s sleep. Instead, the toilet kept flushing all night, the TV didn’t work, and in the AM the shower curtain wasn’t long enough to prevent the bathroom floor from being flooded. It was 6:40 am, Las Vegas time, 9:40 am NY time. I was disgusted, packed my bags and went down to the front desk to change my room. . The front desk person said “you got in today at the airport?” I assumed that that there was some type of job action so I explained to her that I had arrived the previous day but found my room unacceptable. She then realized that I was from NYC and she told me that she was sorry about the tragedy. I asked her what tragedy and she said planes crashed into the trade center. She said all planes were ordered to land at the closest airports and there were several planes unaccounted for.  It didn’t sink in at first. She changed my room to one in the Mardi Gras Tower and then I saw the TV Broadcast of the World Trade Center on every large screen TV in the Casino hotel. For some reason, it was clear to me that both towers were going to collapse. Jet fuel is highly flammable and burns very hot.  It was eerie being in Las Vegas having no planes or helicopters flying overhead.  I visited Texas Station, a casino close to Nellis Air Force Base and spoke to the Naval Officers who were getting their orders .  Three days later, America West put me on a 7:30pm flight home to JFK. As we approached NYC, the pilot told us that he received permission to fly next to the World Trade Center Site. As we flew down the Hudson River towards Kennedy  I saw a glow of fire in the night sky. We passed by the smoking remains of the World Trade Center Towers. It was a memory I will NEVER forget.

For nearly 35 years, I’ve been a connoisseur of gourmet restaurants in cities, towns, and especially, in Casino Hotels around the world. This past weekend, I learned what NYC’s two closest “Casinos”, Resorts World and Empire City had to offer in gourmet dining. My two reviews follow. First, “Pinch” at Empire City.

Pinch

Pinch is Empire City’s new American gourmet room with a touch of European flare.  Finding it is an adventure. Empire has signs for Pinch all over the Casino floor, but none of those signs tell you where it is located.  Even if you know it is on the second floor, an adventure still awaits. If you go up the old set of escalators (directly across the casino floor from the snack bar) you will easily find Empire Terrace and Nonno’s Trattoria, but not Pinch. To get to Pinch from there, you walk to the left of Nonno’s, down an unmarked hallway, through a set of open doors and into the NEW second floor. Keep going straight past the two lane bowling alley (honest, it’s really there!) and you’ll find Pinch. It’s located just above the new Valet parking entrance, which resembles an airport terminal drop off area. Anyway, back to Pinch.  We arrived at Pinch around 7pm on a Saturday evening w/o a reservation since we didn’t know how long it would take us to find it. Upon entering, the hostess was overjoyed and greeted us as if we had some celebrity status and showed us to a table that viewed the open kitchen. Technically, the few booths on the side with self service beer dispensers would probably be the coveted tables, if the dispensers were working. Since none of those dining at those booths were partaking in serving themselves beer, I can only assume that they still don’t have them working. Enough rambling… on to Pinch!  Decor: Bright, and Red, VERY VERY Bright and VERY VERY Red. This place looks like a bunch of college buddies got together and designed it. 99 beers on tap, sitting in barrels above the open kitchen.  Beer samplings of a few beers presented together. Beer pairing options with each menu selection. This place is supposedly about the beer. I’m not sure then, why most of the diners on Saturday evening were enjoying wine rather than beer.  When we were seated we were given each a food menu and one Ipad for the table which listed the beverages. You could read as much detail as you would like about each beer, each wine, each cocktail (many made with beer of course). That Ipad proved very entertaining because despite having a plethora of staff, it took nearly 15 minutes before anyone approached out table. Even more entertaining was watching the Pinch Burger leave the open kitchen on its plate, watching it fall over, and watching it  return to the kitchen for reconstructive repair. This happened repeatedly. I’m not sure why they don’t just bring the various components of it to the table and construct it table-side. Once they got going, the service was really good, but they just don’t quite have their act together. Drinks, for instance, seemed to be placed on a large plate on the bar and servers then take the drinks to various tables around the restaurant, much like cocktail servers would in a casino. I’ll go back to those college buddies. Dining here feels like you are being tended to by a bunch of close college buddies. Unfortunately, each buddy is only allowed to do a single task, so if the buddy who handles the task you need to have taken care of isn’t around, you are out of luck. The exception is the waiter who makes sure each plate is presented to each guest at the table at precisely the same moment. That shows class. On to the kitchen.  The kitchen staff are fantastic! My soup of the day, Broccoli puree was delicious. My dining partner had the flounder ceviche which was equally delicious. My entree was the salmon, perfectly grilled and served with “seasonal vegetables” which consisted of potatoes, asparagus, and bacon. Strange that I never knew bacon was a vegetable before, but the waiter told me about the bacon when I ordered the dish.. The salmon appeared to be in a small quantity of a very light butter sauce with a slight bacon flavor. It worked, surprisingly well. My dining partner had scallops in clam chowder which were perfectly cooked and delicious. Dessert was a disappointment. The traditional tarte tatin was served with creme fraiche but the waiter said ice cream could be substituted. Not sure why since the tarte is sweet and the creme fraiche offsets the sweetness. The tarte was an overcooked mushy mess and the creme fraiche had the consistency of sour creme, which is probably what it was since creme fraiche  should look like whipped creme and just taste like sour creme. The key lime pie in a glass didn’t seem to be going over too well at the adjacent table, but the creme brulee at the same table seemed well liked. Bread is served upon request. Every utensil is changed between courses whether you used them or not.  If you don’t like the background music don’t worry, it’s heavy metal one minute, hip hop the next, and so on and so on. With chefs this good, Pinch has potential. But a lot of components need to come together if this place is to survive. Set aside some time, drop in, grab a beer, grab a burger and give this place a shot. Now to the bigger question.  Why did they name it “Pinch

Having one of those days when everything is up in the air. Health insurance is still active but might become inactive any day.  Jury duty is a possibility for tomorrow, but wont know till after 6 pm today. Recently purchased mattress has been keeping me up, well, waking me up by rolling me out of bed actually.  Salespeople at the store say they will exchange it but claim I have to keep the mattress  for 30 days THEN they will initiate the exchange. Customer service on the phone says I have to initiate the exchange WITHIN 30 days of delivery and the salespeople at the store have to do this. Vehicle is due for its 70,000 mile service but I can’t set that up until I know the Jury Duty status. Need to see the Dentist for a semi annual checkup and cleaning but can’t set that up until I know the status of Jury Duty and then that health insurance issue comes up as well.  Considering a bike ride but this is one of those days when storms can form in seconds. Oh well, I’ll just chalk it up as a day without closure and go with the flow!