A Commutation First
Commemorative plaques and statues will be raised to Judge Louis York, of the New York Supreme Court, in honor of his action yesterday in rolling back the subway fare hike. The MTA’s finances have been troubled from the start, even before there was an MTA. The recent dispute over accounting raised by Alan Hevesi seems to have had a positive effect for the public, unusual at any time. But NY’ers have been hearing threats of an increase beyond $1.50 for some time now, even during the fat years, when the MTA was operating in the black. It’s going to cost them some dough to roll back prices, and I know just where it should come from: every NY’er is well aware of the rich executive pay for the top tier of the MTA, so it sounds like it’s time for a little corporate fiscal responsibility-taking in the upper echelons.

Annals of Crime
The US $20 bill is reportedly among the most frequently counterfeited, another being the US $100 note. I haven’t seen any reports of a redesigned $1, other than the coin upgrade from Susan B. to Sacagawea, but the last reissue of $50s, 20s, 10s, and 5s was mostly notable for nothing at all, although there was the apocryphal “folding money prediction” of the WTC murders. One of the most frequent complaints about US money, however, has been its blandness, so many other countries employing multi-colored currencies. That’s all going to change, with the addition of blue and “peach” highlights. This is going to make J. S. G. Bogg’s previous output more valuable, and his future efforts that much more difficult.

Just in Case . . .
you want to kill some time with a cartoon, there’s Fly Guy, an interactive and entertaining bit of web junk. I enjoyed the rockin’ alien dude and the space robot choreography. (Thanks to Isabella V., who’s probably too busy hiding behind dark glasses to notice ‘blog-nods.)

Home Improvement (cont’d)
When I bought my NYC apartment I didn’t do any work on it (except to make a mess of the painting), but it probably could have used some anyway. For my sins, we find ourselves having to deal with minor repairs and enhancements in our new, luxurious Surry Hills apartment. So with the kitchen out of action for the day, we were forced to dine out. The Clove, a local Indian eatery, provided a delicious and satisfying repast, bringing to mind one of the more welcome aspects of Sydney living: all the varieties of Asian cookery. Thai is on offer to such an extent as to be ubiquitous, as is Indian. Vietnamese seems less common, but that’s all to the good, as the options are therefore more often upscale than down (at least until you head out to the suburbs, Ashfield, Strathfield, Lidcomb, etc.). Since getting married I’ve been an at-home vegetarian, using restaurants as an excuse to have a bit of other-sourced proteins, but now I’m pursuing a more fulsome lifestyle change. O.k., I’m only a “pescetarian,” but the prevalence of Asian options helps me quite a bit. I suppose, however, that I will transition even from my current level of food-dissent, now that I must confront sentience among the non-mammalian.

Tama-chan Rescue
The Japanese are a mysterious people. A bearded seal shows up in a river where he’s not supposed to be, and they make him an honorary resident (the complexities of which are documented by a political group known as the Friends of Tama-chan). Then Pana Wave, a doomsday cult, springs up around the little fellow, hailing him as the solution to avoiding the apocalypse. Well, the magnetic poles have not yet reversed as promised, so I’m going with the assumption that Tama-chan is o.k., and the world will not end today. I sincerely hope there’s no repeat of any Aum Shinrikyo activities, just the same.