I'm back. Something odd: I wasn't able access Asymmetrical Information before I left for NY or even now. Anyway, my trip and conference was OK. I got some mostly annoying feedback about my paper. I'd lived in NYC 20 years ago, and boy has it changed, but then again, so have I.

I remember that there were hardly any Mexican restaurants there, but now they're all over the place, as are many others. We found Los Dos Rancheros Mexicanos in a guidebook (507 Ninth Avenue, at 39th Street). It was pretty cheap. I had the mole poblano and my wife had a vegetarian burrito. Pretty big servings, not too greasy, and extremely filling if not wonderful. Farther up on 9th Ave. (792 9th Ave.) we ate at a not-bad Thai restaurant Wondee Siam. The weird thing was that in addition to a Buddhist icon, they had an altar to Guan Gong; while one sees altars to him in many overseas Chinese businesses, I hadn't expected to see him in a Thai restaurant, but the cashier said that some Thais did worship him.

We found Guru on our own on E. 6th st, bet 1st & 2nd, a street that has a bunch of Indian restaurants. It's a vegetarian buffet; I was pleased by the frugal warning not to waste food. It, too, was filling though not as spicy as we would have liked. But the host also emphasized that the food was prepared according to Ayurvedic principles. Maybe it's not allowed to be too spicy. We also went to the Chinatown in Flushing, but didn't eat much except for a bowl of wonton soup. The little place also served beef puzzle; according to the Chinese menu they meant to use an "i".

While in NY, we saw Jia Zhangke's Unknown Pleasures. I found it a bit long, and my wife said that the director could have made it more amusing. Apparently the director likes improvisation; maybe that's why a couple of incidents didn't quite make sense. I couldn't help feel that the director was catering to his artsy audience with its topical references to "the Americans bombing us", TV reports of the downed U.S. intelligence plane the 2008 Olympics, and Falun Gong . But I knew enough about movies to "get" a request for DVDs of the director's movies and a musical quote from In the Mood for Love.


Speaking of the Village Voice, I picked up a copy someone had left on the bus from the airport. Whew! "No civilized person could watch [the attack on Iraq] unfold without feeling sadness and rage". I hate it when people presume to speak for me. I guess I'm neither civlized nor a thinking person. And the issue that I found had this cartoon. Well, I guess back when I opposed the war in Vietnam (wrongly, I now believe), I would've thought that the epitome of humor. On the other hand, I see Nat Hentoff has a more nuanced view.