Real Music & Real Estate . . .

Yiddishe Cup’s bandleader, Bert Stratton, is Klezmer Guy.
 

He knows about the band biz and – check this out – the real estate biz, too.
 

You may not care about the real estate biz. Hey, you may not care about the band biz. (See you.)
 

This is a blog with a gamy twist. It features tenants with snakes and skunks, and musicians with smoked fish in their pockets.
 

Stratton has written op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post.


 
 

A ROUGH REVIEW OF
YIDDISHE CUP

by Bert Stratton

Yiddishe Cup calls its act “neo-Borscht Belt klezmer comedy.”  That’s been done before —  the Borscht Belt schtick.   For starters, about 60 years ago.

Yiddishe Cup can fill a golden age center in Miami. Then what?  Take it on the road to the Bronx Hebrew Home for the Aged. Then return to Miami and stay there.  And don’t forget your meds, guys.  You’re not getting any younger.

Has Yiddishe Cup ever toured for weeks, developing a solid groove, establishing decent ensemble chops?

No.

On weekends the band collects inflatable guitars at bar mitzvahs, eats baked salmon, and watches “reflections” videos.

Does Yiddishe Cup research old Yiddish tunes at YIVO?  Does anybody in Yiddishe Cup know where YIVO is?  [New York.]  Or what YIVO means?  Does anybody? [Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut.]

One more thing: dynamics. Ever heard that word, Yiddishe Cup?

—–

 Klez bandleaders, please submit your recordings for review here.  You have nothing to gain.

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SIDE B

This post is a rerun (from 4/20/11). No, I’m not running out of material. I just like this one. Happy Passover.

NOT A PASSOVER STORY

Bialy’s Bagels in University Heights, Ohio, was my bagel supplier for years. I would go swimming; go to Bialy’s and buy 15 bagels; eat two; drive to my mother’s; give her three; and take the rest home.bialys-slender-pic1

I was on a bagel diet. I thought eating sesame and poppy seed bagels was a smart weight-control maneuver.

My back-up bagel purveyor was Amster’s at Cedar Center. The counter woman there, Marilyn Weiss, volunteered for school levies, racial integration projects, and did a ton of schlep work at my shul. Amster’s was all about Marilyn’s personality. Unfortunately she died in 2000, and the place closed a few years later.

I also went to Better — as in “Better Bagel” — on Taylor Road. The owners were New Yorkers who wore yarmulkes and Brooklyn Dodgers shirts. I figured they knew bagels.

They didn’t. Their bagels were too doughy and not crispy enough on the outside. Better Bagel eventually changed its name to Brooklyn Bagel.

No better.

bialy-bagels-best

Go to Bialy’s. If Bialy’s ever closes, we’re in bagel trouble in Cleveland.

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7 comments

1 don friedman { 03.27.13 at 12:53 pm }

[re: bagels]

Wrong! If you like pretzels, you’ll love Bruegger’s whole-wheat everything bagel. Has seeds, nuts, and salt on it. Toasts really nice and tastes great with a spoon of olive oil or light butter on it. Of course, their other bagel choices are really good too.

And I also loved Bialy’s. When I moved to the Republican stronghold of Brecksville (on the border), the drive to University Heights was too long. Here I learned that Republicans also love bagels.

2 bill jones { 03.27.13 at 1:13 pm }

[re: bagels]

Thanks for remembering Marilyn Weiss. She was truly an institution and lovingly remembered.

As for Bialy’s, I think that they’re slowly going the way of Amster’s.

I second the vote for Bruegger’s since, at least at Green Road, the guys that run the place bring that special flavor to the place. They also do custom bagel concoctions, using their regular ingredients: “black russian” from Einstein, which is a pumpernickel with poppy.

3 Bert Stratton { 03.27.13 at 1:46 pm }

To Bill Jones:

Please clarify: Bruegger’s uses ingredients from Einstein’s?

Just want to understand bagelry — the ins and outs.

4 Jeff Moss { 03.27.13 at 2:34 pm }

Bialy’s IS the only place to get bagels. Anything else is not a bagel.

5 bill jones { 03.27.13 at 3:48 pm }

Einstein’s developed the “Black Russian”: pumpernickel with poppy. Brueggers will replicate it.

6 Ken Goldberg { 03.27.13 at 6:01 pm }

Yes, Bialy’s has diminished in recent years — in hours open and reduced customers. Used to be line outside many times.

As for Marilyn Weiss, aka Lily Tomlin, yes — she was volunteer supreme whom Lillian always said was under-appreciated at Beth Am (for example as indicated by a certain someone’s remarks when she did a lot of work related to the Hts. Thanksgiving service held one year at the synagogue). Probably by her sons, too. We participated in her “shiva.”

7 Ari Davidow { 03.31.13 at 7:21 pm }

First, I have to say that, in my never humble opinion, Einstein bagels are goyish. Bruegger’s are better, but really, this is the sort of thing you eat when you can’t get a real bagel.

And, while I am putting down opinions with which I disagree, I gotta shake my head at the “Rough Review.” I have seen Yiddishe Cup in action. That reviewer has no clue. The KlezmerShack has driven–DRIVEN all the way from Boston to Cleveland to see Yiddishe Cup in action. We put our damn oil changes where our mouth is (tastes terrible–even worse than Einstein bagels). Take that, Mr. Smartypants reviewer.

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