Cynicism

Some years back, I came a upon a car in a parking lot.  It was a sleek, sexy black Porsche.  It must have cost at least $100,000.

The Porsche had vanity license plates.  The plates said "CYNIC."

It struck me as rather strange.  The guy who owned the car must have had a perfectly comfortable life.

So why proclaim yourself a cynic?

People incline naturally to cynicism as a retreat.  In adulthood, most people get kicked around around a lot, professionally or personally.  Life isn't easy.

Cynicism is a way protect yourself, even if you have a fancy sports car worth more than most people's homes or 401K accounts.

I suspect the fellow who pasted those plates on his car didn't know much about cynicism in its classic form.

Above is an image of Diogenes of Synope, a member of one of the philosophical schools that grew out of the Platonic movement.  When Diogenes lived, 412-323 BCE, philosophy was a big deal; people felt a great need to understand the meaning of life.

Plato called Diogenes a "dog," which translates into "cynic" in Greek.  Diogenes was by no means the leader of his school, but he was the most prominent and the name stuck to him and his fellows.

In fact, Diogenes intentionally lived a severe and ascetic life.  He was very quotable, sort of an ancient Mark Twain with less humor, and so gets a fair amount of attention still.

Most famously, Diogenes was said to walk through Athens in broad daylight with a brightly lit lantern.  

Asked why he did this, Diogenes said, "I am looking for an honest man."

The web is full of Diogenes dialogues.  Here is a famous one.

A young man contemplating marriage asks for advice from Diogenes.

          "Marriage is too soon for a young man,"  says the philosopher.
          "Would you have me wait then until I am old?" asks the young man.
          "Oh, no, marriage is far too late for an old man."
          "What am I to do then?  I love the girl."
          "Love is a luxury no one can afford.  It is for those who have nothing better to do."
          "What should we be doing then?"
          "To seek freedom.  But it is not possible to be free if you have a wife and children."
          "But having a wife and family is so agreeable."
          "Then you see the problem, young man.  Freedom would not be so difficult to attain were 

             prison so sweet."
          "You mean freedom is to be alone?"
          "We come into the world alone and we die alone.  Why, in life, should we be any 

             less alone?

           "To live, then, is terrible."
           "No, not to live, but to live in chains."

The Greek philosophers were struggling against many things:  a religion with a bunch of only-too-human gods who offered mystical stories and oracles but no guidance toward or reward for an honorably lived life; strains of democracy that did not include women or slaves, and rapid achievements in the the sciences that challenged the underpinnings of the whole system.

Even today, we know that life is difficult.  Everyone suffers, some greatly.  Life is not fair, and an afterlife is not certain.

It was easy to be a cynic in 400 BCE.  It always has been easy.

But cynicism, as we understand it now, is a cheap retreat from the challenge of living a life with commitment and meaning.

Another Faux Hawk

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady with ubermodel/wife Gisele Bundchen at a celebrity event in New York over the weekend.  Unfortunate color selection in the trousers.  Is Brady a golfer?

Flower Show Dinner Dance

The Hort held its 17th annual Flower Show Dinner Dance at the Pierre Hotel on East 61st Street in Manhattan about 10 days ago.

(For the uninitiated, the Hort is the Horticultural Society of New York.)

I wasn't invited -- again -- but a friend of mine did attend.  She returned with reports of fabulous over-the-top table decorations, and so I looked on the internet.  She was so right.

A few examples are pictured below.  Where possible, I have noted the names of designers to enable my readers to consult their firms if they require gorgeously staged arrangements.

Renny & reed

Tantawan Bloom

FlowerSchool New York

I have attended many social gatherings that included floral table decorations, but usually these have been on a much smaller scale; the idea, I think, is to enable speech among guests sitting across the table from each other.  At the nicest events, there often is a chance to win one of the arrangements to take home to enjoy for the next week or so.

The centerpieces above are far more ambitious.  The designers have gone up, up, up with their displays, perching the grandest parts above the chit-chat level so as to allow for conversation as well as dramatic impact.

My guess is that these were not shared with guests at the end of the evening.  I cannot picture a couple in gown and black tie wrangling one of these monsters home, even in the ample back seat of large town car.

Later in the week, I checked out Bill Cunningham's "Evening Hours" photo spreads in the society section of the New York Times, but I did not find a picture of my friend.  I'm sure she looked fabulous, by the way.

There is a part of me that would like to appear in one of the famous Mr. Cunningham's columns, but my personal preference would be to be featured in his "On the Street" fashion review, which appears each Sunday.

For those who missed it, last week's photos noted that the spring coat, a must-have wardrobe item the last several years, has been replaced this season by short jackets.  For what it's worth.

The Ugliest Building in New Jersey

Here are some pictures of a big project that has been started, stopped, restarted, stopped again, and now resurrected anew.  It is in East Rutherford, N.J., next door to Met Life Stadium, where the New York Giants and Jets play football.  

The photographs below don't convey the impact of the project because they were taken from a distance and tend to minimize its enormous size.  It has many garish pieces, and a lot of it looks like parti-colored stacks of oversized shipping containers.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has called it "the ugliest damn building in New Jersey, and maybe America."  Whatever you think about Christie, you have to agree that he is right about that.  He said the latest effort to revive the never-completed project will start with improving the look of the place from the outside.

This development, originally dubbed Xanadu, is to include a retail complex,  an amusement park, a water park and the first indoor ski slope (on the left in the middle picture) in the country.   It was approved for construction in 2003.  The original developers filed for bankruptcy in 2007, after which another developer resumed work, quitting in 2009.

Between them, the first two unsuccessful efforts to complete the project consumed $1.9 billion and left the current hulk sitting in the middle of Jersey's Meadowlands.

In 2011, a group named Triple Five took over and renamed the project American Dream.  The company promises 400 retail stores and restaurants, among these an "upscale gourmet food hall" and a kosher food mall. The theme park will have a Dream Works theme.

Triple Five owns the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., which is described, appropriately, as a mega mall.  It has 520 stores, 50 restaurants, a Nickelodeon Universe theme park, a Sea Life aquarium and a Lego Universe Center.

When Mall of America opened, retail experts were skeptical, doubting that there were enough retail concepts in the country to fill the thing.  In the 22 years since, American stores have lost much of their business to online sellers, but Mall of America seems to be holding its own.

American Dream may have real potential because it is not far from New York City.  Millions of people from other countries visit New York every year, and something this big, with this many elements, could become a major tourist destination just on its own.

Back to the aesthetics.  Triple Five plans to change the exterior of American Dream, adding "a lot of glass, really clean and exquisite, and I think a world-class building to be proud of," according to Triple Five's chief operating officer.  A company spokesman told a Minneapolis newspaper it would have 80-foot-tall windows.

Almost any change would be an improvement, of course, but I doubt that any effort could render an "exquisite" result in this unfortunate situation.

Work is to begin shortly and be completed in 2016.

Last year, New Jersey's Economic Development Department approved $390 million in tax breaks for American Dream, as well has hundreds of millions of dollars in public bonds to finance construction.  The total tab for the completion of American Dream is expected to run to almost $2 billion.

Great as the prospects for American Dream may be, I do not sense much public enthusiasm in New Jersey for government investment in the project.  My guess is most people would have been happier just  to see the thing torn down.

Fashion's Night Out and What Came Next

Most of us remember the somber mood of the nation in 2009.  People were concerned about job security, declining home prices and the sinking value of their retirement accounts.

Vogue editor Anna Wintour looked at the glum situation and came up with an idea:  Fashion's Night Out.  She teamed up with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to co-sponsor a fun evening of shopping and fashion promotion on Sept.10 of that year.

Designers, the mayor of New York, celebrities and stores all pitched in, offering price promotions, drinks and hors d'oeuvres and a fun atmosphere.  Below is a picture of a bevy of fashion models, all in event-themed shirts, running down a street to launch the first Fashion's Night Out.

Fashion's Night Out was a great success.  Within a couple years it spread to 16 countries, then 19, and to many other American cities.

Over time, FNO events attracted huge numbers of people.  Below is a picture of enthusiasts at a store in Tokyo in during Fashion's Night Out in 2011.

And here is a crowd of participants in New York in 2012.

After the 2012 event, clothing store operators had pretty much had it.  There were complaints that hordes of people came for the drinks and finger food but didn't buy any clothes.  There were grumblings about FNO attracting the "bridge and tunnel crowd" (hoi polloi from the suburbs) and not enough classy Manhattanites.

Those who attended complained that the crowds were frustrating and clothing bargains were not to be found.

Last year, the CFDA pulled the plug on Fashion's Night Out, announcing that it was going on "hiatus."

Steve Kolb, the head of the CFDA said, "Everyone feels we had a great four years.  It brought a lot of attention to retail, to fashion's important place in retail."

I decode this to mean that there will not be another Fashion's Night Out.  And why should there be? Things change.  Something that was a good idea in 2009 may not be a good idea five years later.

FNO's Stepchild -- Girls' Night Out

While Fashion's Night Out may have been too much of a good thing for big cities, it seems to have spawned many similarly-themed events that are working quite well in suburbs and smaller towns around the country.

Many suburban downtowns have seen a retail drain as more commerce moves online.  Clothiers, restaurateurs, specialty shop owners, banks and even hospitals are happy to participate in new events to draw people downtown.

Often these are called Girls' Night Out.

My town held its first one in 2011.  It was well-received and I believe will continue for many years.

In February of this year, Alpharetta, GA, had a Ladies' Night Out that included special events at stores, hotels and restaurants.

In March, Stamford, CT, sold tickets for a Girls' Night Out event in the town's Italian Center.  It featured wine and food sampling, beauty makeovers, goody bags for early ticket buyers and, of course, shopping.

Later this month, Spokane, WA, is sponsoring a Girls' Night Out that features many performance art events and a gala dinner and auction.

One evening last week, the Significant Other and I drove to the next town over to have dinner at a restaurant we like.  As he parked the car, I noticed the streets were thronged with women, many carrying bulging shopping bags.

"This must be Girls' Night Out," I remarked, and I was right.  Stores had put out sidewalk displays, and some offered wine and finger foods inside.  A band was playing in a small park on the main street.  The local YMCA had offered free babysitting from 5 to 9 p.m. for those who signed up early.

When we got to the restaurant, we saw a number of tables of women enjoying dinner after shopping at the local stores.  Many, many glasses of chardonnay were being served.  (The evening's menu specials included a Strawberry Cheesecake Martini -- Stoli vanilla, cranberry juice and grenadine -- designed just for Girls' Night Out.  I did not order the special drink, wisely, I think, nor did I see other women drinking it.  A well-intentioned effort, no doubt, but the execution probably went a bit too far.)

Most of the men in the restaurant were clustered in the bar, watching a Yankees game on television.

Girls' Night Out is successful, I believe, because it offers activities that appeal to women -- shopping together and then going for mani-pedis or to share a nice meal.

In my experience, most men don't enjoy shopping, and they certainly don't plan evenings around trolling clothing stores with other guys.  They would rather gather over beers and watch a sports event.
To sum it up, I think Girls' Night Out might be here to stay, but I don't see Mens' Night Out events happening anytime soon.

New Jersey's Cigarette Addiction

One element of the public health war on cigarette smoking, a worthy effort, was to make cigarettes more expensive.  The idea was that smokers would be discouraged from buying cigarettes as the price increased.

Governments were happy to help out.  They raised the cost of cigarettes by taxing them heavily.  Today, the federal tax on a pack of cigarettes is $1.01.  The New Jersey tax is $2.70, the sixth highest rate in the country.

When these taxes were first proposed, the thought was that the revenues could be used to discourage smoking and to help smokers quit.  It never really worked out that way, unfortunately.

In 2012, the most recent reporting year I could find, cigarette taxes contributed more than $733 million to the New Jersey budget, or a little less than $1,000 from each smoker with a pack-a-day habit. Cigarettes are also subject to the state's seven-percent sales tax.

Cigarette taxes didn't start out at the current rate, but the New Jersey legislature, like many others, just kept bumping them up, always for the good of smokers.

In 1997, for instance, New Jersey doubled its per-pack tax to 80 cents, the highest in the nation.  The idea, legislators said, was a virtuous one -- to encourage people to quit smoking.  A side benefit was raising $205 million annually for indigent health care and school construction.   The bill was very popular because nonsmokers, a majority of the population, got the new programs for free.

Cigarettes also brought money into the state from the national $206 billion settlement worked out with tobacco companies in 1998.

New Jersey's portion of the settlement was to be $250 million annually until 2025.

That cash flow was irresistible to state lawmakers when New Jersey had financial problems a few years later. In 2002 the state sold bonds to be repaid by most of the proceeds from the tobacco settlement.  This netted about $2 billion, which plugged the hole in the state's operating budget for just one year.

This year the state budget is again under challenge.  One action being planned is to sell bonds for what is left of the tobacco settlement money, a bit less than $400 million.  This will raise $91.6 million dollars for the current year's shortfall.

In addition, Governor Chris Christie is proposing another tax increase on "tobacco."  His plan is to tax e-cigarettes at the same rate as the regular ones.  (No matter that e-cigarettes seem to help smokers break the habit of inhaling smoke and destroying their lungs.)  He says this will raise $40 million a year for programs to help people who are addicted to narcotics.  He has offered no reason why smokers of e-cigarettes should bear all the burden for addiction treatment.

In 2002, when the state sold the settlement bonds, there were pledges to spend $40 million annually for smoking cessation programs.  That dropped to $30 million in 2003 and kept dropping until 2011, when just $1.5 million was allocated to help smokers quit.

Since then, New Jersey has spent no money on such programs.  The American Lung Association now gives the state "F" grades for tobacco prevention and smoking cessation efforts.

When you think about it, this is quite rational.

Cigarette taxes bring the state more than $700 million a year (and would have brought in $250 million more if politicians had kept their hands out of the cookie jar).  If people stop smoking, New Jersey will lose all that money.

Does New Jersey's government really want people to quit smoking?  Its behavior -- canceling cessation programs, taxing e-cigarettes -- seems to be aimed more at keeping the money flowing in forever.

If this sounds bad, it gets worse.

Cigarette smokers are clustered mostly at the lower end of the income spectrum.  Effectively, New Jersey levies taxes on the smoking poor to finance general government spending that benefits the broader, richer public.

It's hard to kick a habit like that.

Yogi Berra's House for Sale

The local paper reports that Yogi Berra's home in Montclair, N.J., is now on the market.

Yogi and Carmen

It is a handsome house, but downright humble given the scale of homes of big-name athletes the days.  Yogi (it seems ridiculous to refer to him as Mr. Berra) and his wife, Carmen, bought the house in 1974, trading in another place they had owned in town.  Carmen died this March, just after their 65th anniversary in January. They had three sons, two of whom were also professional athletes.

Just another tag at the plate

The listing price, $888,000, apparently refers to Yogi's jersey number, 8, when when he was the New York Yankees' catcher.  In those days, Yogi made the American League All-Star team every year from 1948 to 1962.  He was also a prodigious hitter.  One year, he struck out only 12 times in an amazing 597 at-bats.  He of course is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.





There are many amusing Yogi quotes, but I am not going to talk about them here.

In Montclair, Yogi is at least as much loved for his post-baseball good works as for his career on the field.  So was his wife.  There is a Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center, which he has promoted and stocked with memorabilia. Yogi Berra Stadium is home to a minor league team and the Montclair State baseball club.  Yogi has raised money for countless causes, and he has interested himself in the development of good sportsmanship in children.

Several years ago I met a woman who told me about a smallish Montclair city event; each year, Yogi Berra would show up and read books to children.  I can picture that.  He is a modest and generous man, the kind we'd like our sons and daughters to emulate.

 No doubt local residents are hoping that, after the house sells, Yogi will relocate in town.