Tag Archives: Oscar’s Brasserie

I Really Taught Me To Watusi

Yes I did not post yesterday. It was a friggin’ holiday and I decided to not write, which in turn gave you all (both of you) the opportunity to not read. A ‘win win’ situation wouldn’t you say? I know I would. Yesterday was very much a mellow day, Bill was home the night before after driving to Massachusetts and back. Sleep came fairly easy, dreams somewhat disturbing. I was up earlier than expected thanks to some neighbors taking advantage of rebuilding after the storm to remodel their apartments without building permits and it sounded like a basketball game was in progress.

I’m sure there are a few people in town avoiding the building permit scene and doing whatever remodeling they could do. Some people are definitely in need of rebuilding but in my building a tenant is merely trying to make room for his wife moving back in. So being up early allowed me to go to the supermarket nearby to get a few things before the Thanksgiving last minute rush kicked in. I got a few things and then headed home where I had a nice breakfast. Bill was still asleep when I came back and of course I let him sleep.

He eventually got up and got himself together. The plan was the same as last year, dinner at Oscar’s Brasserie in the Waldorf Astoria. We started going there two years ago with Hyman Gross. He used to go with his lady friend and since she passed away we decided to treat Hyman. I was working then so it was doable. Then Hyman passed away and we went to honor Hyman. I don’t know if we’ll go again next year. We get dressed up to find no one else is dressed up. The food is great though.

After dinner a walk across town back to the bus terminal as we smoked our cigars. Someone blessed me with a few Cubans so it was especially enjoyable. Not too long of a wait for the bus and not too many people. A couple of hours after we left Hoboken for dinner, we were back in Hoboken, sated. Not much on the television so we watched a Harry Potter marathon which Bill seemed to enjoy. I of course told him to pay attention at certain points just so he would know who was who and what was what. It helped somewhat.

Soon it was bedtime for the Bonzos. Bill slumbered off first and I joined him shortly thereafter. This morning Bill was up first and out and about. I woke up to an empty apartment. I knew Bill was driving tonight and had no idea where he was. He soon came home, after spending some time talking with the neighbors. I showered and had some coffee that Bill made. He came home with more groceries and things he was going to need for the drive tonight. We spent some good time together before he headed out leaving me in solitude.

I unfortunately couldn’t help but feed the trolls. It seems a woman was photographed at Arlington Cemetery giving the finger to a sign that requested silence and respect. Yes, she flipped the bird to a sign. This of course cost her her job because she was disrespecting the dead, soldiers and veterans all at the same time by flipping off an inanimate sign. Oh she has stalkers after her, true ‘patriots’ screaming that she should go to Iran. You can just smell the tea and semen on their chins as they type.

And me being me, went to this woman’s defense. Yes it was a stupid joke, but ultimately it was harmless. ‘I have 37.5 relatives in national cemeteries and blah blah blah.’ Truly pathetic. I was slandered as well for pointing out the hypocrisy of terrible spellers. Pedro felt obliged to intervene and request that I stop feeding these trolls, and eventually I did.

I am quite glad there was no internet when I visited Ford’s Theater with my family in the 1960’s.

I also saw Shlomo at the smoke scene. He was hanging out with some guy named MJ. I just gave Shlomo a book that I’ve had for the past couple of years about cigars and tobacco, a handbook of sorts for tobacconists. I wasn’t using it as anything besides a doorstop and figured Shlomo would be better off with it than me. I think he figured I was angling for a free cigar but with the Cuban bounty that washed up on our doorstep, I could afford to walk off with a simple handshake. I don’t think Shlomo is used to someone like me, just being kind for no particular reason.





I’m The Urban Spaceman

I Am Kurious, Oranj

It’s Thanksgiving evening now. Bill and I got home about an hour ago, after having a nice dinner at Oscar’s Brasserie with Hyman Gross. Hyman and his companion June used to have Thanksgiving dinner at Oscar’s every year, then last year, June up and died around this time.

He had mentioned how blue he was feeling the past couple of weeks, not looking forward to a solitary Thanksgiving dinner. So Bill and I decided to stay local. Not just for Hyman, but also because I didn’t want to have to spend 5 hours in a car or a train going to Bill’s cousin’s house. It would have been about 2.5 hours in each direction.

Last night as I was home, as I was writing I kept thinking that I had to work today and had to keep reminding myself that I had off. It was somewhat disconcerting and it wore me down.

A very brief phone call with my brother Frank also happened last night, discussing Janet Wygal’s side projects from 25 years ago and almost veering into a discussion about what is going on in my life, when Patti Lupone, Michael Cerveris and George Hearn starting singing a song from Sweeney Todd on the Stephen Sondheim 75th birthday celebration on PBS, cutting Frank’s interest in my life of turmoil short.

I was all set to go to bed around 1:00 last night, Juan was a no show. Bill phoned as he was about to leave Washington DC and head back to the tri-state area. He felt like closing his eyes for a few minutes so I offered to stay up until 1:30 and give him a call so that he wouldn’t oversleep. And that’s what I did.

I threw in Iron Man 2 from Netflix and started to get into it, pretty amped up and called Bill at 1:30. He had just woken up a minute before I called. I watched a little bit more of Iron Man 2 before I went to bed for some tossing and turning. I don’t fall asleep easily when Bill isn’t around.

When I woke up around 10:00 this morning, there was Bill sound asleep in bed, sleep apnea mask on. I puttered around, showered and made breakfast for myself, thankful that Bill made an extra special effort to get some bagels from H&H while he was in the city this morning.

I woke Bill up around 12:30 so we could start to get ready to head into the city. I was determined not to be late, so as to prove to Hyman that Bill had indeed made it back on time. We got to the Waldorf Astoria before Hyman and were seated when he came in. I found him and directed him to our table.

Hyman didn’t have much to say to me, possibly because I told him I did want to hear his negativity and when he did speak to me, I was probably best described as cheeky. It wasn’t bad, we all got our salads at the same time, but went for the entrees without Hyman who went on his own. He also purloined one or two cloth napkins which he put into his bag.

We headed out after Bill and I decided to split the bill and treat Hyman. A walk through the lobby to get a cab on the Park Avenue side, Hyman opting not to ride back to Hoboken with us. He went his way and we went ours, running into Denise Foster in the queue for the bus. Denise used to cook fabulous holiday dinners before she started witnessing for Jehovah.

Now Bill naps, I write and Juan is making his way down to Hoboken to hang out for a bit. Work tomorrow, going in later. The 12:30 to 10:30 shift starts tomorrow and that is what my holiday schedule looks like. This is why I desperately wanted to be out of the retail world before the season. Too late for that now.

John Ozed, Hyman Gross and Bill Vila


Denise Foster


Bill Vila


the John Ozed guy

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