Sergey Zadvorny

Sergey and Tatiana, April 2010...

Cliff's Bar

From before its rebirth as the Sky Lounge--although in one sense Cliff's was always the Sky Lounge.

Anna

Student life, reappearing like something out of 16th century Flanders...the dull homespun and worn heel, cloth the color of earth--brought together on a gray concrete floor, with only the tubular leg of a modern factory chair--a whisp of metal--to break the spell...

Weeks later, just before Thanksgiving, at an intersection near San Pablo--a figure on a bicycle, a woman with heavy load...heading uphill towards school. Also Anna...

Shtot meshugener, Mozyr

The shtot meshugener (town fool) of Mozyr, Belorussia, 1912-13. First encountered this as a photograph on the wall of the Jewish Museum in New York. What struck me was the man's face, and the gesture of his pose--something essential, as if known--and then (from the caption) that he was from Mozyr (my father's birthplace) and that the period in which it was taken would have also been while my father was still living there, eight or nine years old--all of which which meant that he probably knew this man, too...

The Sky Lounge

Up in the sky, someone is playing a trombone and a guitar.
Red is your tie, and in your velveteen coat, you hide a star.
Monica, Monica, dance the waltz
Monica, Monica, dance the waltz
Follow me, moon and sun
Keep time with me, one two three one...

Aleksandr Galich, "Nomera"

Russian video yesterday, late afternoon--Aleksandr Galich, Nomera, with old film clips of Galich--standing and singing, with guitar, in jacket and tie, later talking with young people, or alone, at a table, smoking thoughtfully, all beginning with a scene at his Russian Orthodox gravesite... And most mysteriously, the ice skaters in Moscow, grainy black-and-white footage, looped in place, in the same way the refrain from the song returns to a telephone number from long in the past--and a whispered invitation to go skating--"tonight, at eight...

- Пять-тринадцать-сорок три, это ты?
Ровно в восемь приходи на каток!

(Five--thirteen--forty-three, is that you?
Right at eight, come to the rink...)

* * *

For the full video: Александр Галич. Номера

(Note: for the image we're indebted to Mandelstam ("Leningrad")--but Galich's song is very much his own--and these things seem to be the property of all Russians...)

November 2010

Corinna, Corinna, way across the sea
Corinna, Corinna, way across the sea
Ain't done no good babe, since you left me...

Oscar's Famous Cole Slaw

Oscar’s Famous Cole Slaw (by Peter Dubow)

My father’s Cole slaw was known up and down the West Coast, thus—Oscar’s Famous Cole slaw. People who hate slaw would love his because it was garlicky and tangy, altogether different from the creamy variety.

Dad would hand grate cabbage but I use a Cuisinart (1mm disk—very fine). Lawry’s seasoned salt is all our family ever used so I wouldn’t know what other seasoning to recommend.

Ingredients:

Cabbage 1 head (serves 4-6)
Garlic! 1 clove or more
Green onions 1-3
Parsley 1 oz. more or less
Olive oil 1/3 cup approx.
Cider vinegar 1/8-1/4 cup approx.
Tarragon vinegar a splash or two
Lemon juice 1
Lawry’s seasoned salt to taste (about 1 tsp.)
Dry mustard 1/3 tsp. Approx.
Sugar tbsp. approx
Oregano careful—just a little
Salt to taste
Ground pepper ditto

Preparation:

Crush garlic with the back of a tablespoon and mix into dry ingredients in a wood salad bowl. Add finely grated cabbage and finely chopped green onions and parsley. Toss thoroughly. Add oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Toss a whole bunch more.

A secret to the slaw’s success is achieving the proper balance of vinegar, lemon juice and sugar to get just the right sweet and sour effect. Of
course, it’s always easier to add salt (and anything else) than to subtract
it.

You may have to try this recipe a few times before you even begin to
approach the magic quality my dad put into his Cole slaw.