By Donald H. Harrison
DEL MAR, California — As a group of us walked into the press party Friday evening, June 1, at the San Diego County Fair, we were confronted by the old and the new. The old, in the sense of what expects to see at county fairs, was represented by a group of charming, freshly-scrubbed youngsters from the Olivenhain Valley 4-H Club cradling in their arms or holding on a leash a chicken, pig, goat, and sheep — all available for gentle petting. Gail Umeham, our associate editor, was fascinated by the small black pig, and delightedly had her photo taken with it and its young master, 4-H’er Everett Brandenburg. Pigs may not be kosher to eat, but neither for that matter are dogs, and they both make great pets.
The “new” was represented by strolling aliens, dress-up characters who would have felt at home at Quark’s Bar on the Deep Space 9 station of Star Trek fame. They came in green, silver, and multi-colored varieties, and will all help illustrate the June 8-July 4 fair’s” Out of This World” theme for 2012.
The press party was intended to preview the fair for many hundreds of media workers (newspapers, radio, television, internet), but whereas the midway was open, and providing free food and drink, none of the actual exhibits were open yet. There were a few carnival attractions to occupy the media’s attention, including competitive squirt gunning, bungee jumping, and skeet ball. In the first of these attractions, you take your seat, aim a pistol mounted on a counter at the open mouth of a plastic clown’s head, and at the signal, start squirting. The water stream activates an inflation device that blows up a balloon over the clown’s head. The first balloon to pop makes the contestant a winner. Sam Zeiden, our 93-year-old photographer, proved his eyesight remains wonderful as he bulls-eyed the water stream into the clown’s mouth. But he wasn’t as fast as some other contestant whose balloon popped before Zeiden’s could.
That pig that Gail Umeham cradled couldn’t have been too happy with the some of the food selections on the Midway. One of the most popular items was bacon-wrapped turkey legs, which I suppose are a lot healthier to eat than some of the other selections, which included Deep Fried Twinkies among other gastronomic absurdities. At other booths, there was plenty of pulled pork. The poor little black pig probably will go back to Olivenhain Valley with nightmares. My wife and co-publisher, Nancy Harrison, and I had chicken kabobs at Chicken Charlie’s, another of the most popular stands, and they were quite tasty. We also liked the banana and peanut butter combination at one of the Funnel Cake booths.
Somehow all of this reminded me of the political joke about ham and eggs illustrating the difference between making a contribution to a campaign and being committed to it. The chicken that provides the eggs has made a contribution, but the pig was committed 100 percent.
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CAMPAIGN 2012 — Okay, I admit it, that last joke was a segue to a discussion about the upcoming June 5 election. Since San Diego Jewish World announced our endorsements, we’ve taken some good-natured ribbing from people supporting other candidates. “Filner, really, how could you?” asked one member of our Jewish community about our endorsement for mayor of San Diego. He pointed out that Congressman Bob Filner has been aligned at times with J-Street positions, which tend to be quite forgiving of Palestinians and sometimes quite critical of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Furthermore, Filner has been supported by some local Palestinians, and asked my friend, isn’t that troubling?
I responded that whereas we took Filner to task for some of his votes in Congress, we never mistook his positions for anything other than a misguided manifestation of his inborn sense of idealism–fed by the same imperative that led him as a teenager to be a Freedom Rider in Mississippi, and to thereafter unremittingly identify himself with the underdog.
My own viewpoint is that tiny, democratic Israel has been and continues to be the underdog in the autocratic Middle East, surrounded as it is by so many hostile countries. I believe the United States must support Israel against enemies that are as anti-American as they are anti-Jewish. Filner’s view probably is more nuanced than mine, and if he can rally Palestinians to back him as mayor, well maybe he also can help bring Jews and Palestinians together locally for meaningful dialogue. Helpful politicians bring people together, rather than engage in political profit-taking from people’s differences. Lord knows, it would be wonderful if Jews and Arabs could overcome our mutual suspicions and find a pathway to peace.
At the fair, another friend who hadn’t read our endorsements (really she should update her ‘favorites’ list on the Internet and move San Diego Jewish World up to the top!) said with a little barb in her voice that she imagined we had endorsed District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis — a reference to our determined backing of Dumanis in her successful campaign in 2002 to replace Paul Pfingst as the D.A. This friend remains a good friend of Pfingst, and believes we did not give him his due in that election. Pfingst, by the way, later good-naturedly “thanked” us for helping to get him from the D.A.’s office into private practice, where he is one of the county’s most successful criminal defense lawyers.
It’s wonderful when two strong candidates from the Jewish community are in the top four of those contending for mayor–and we gave positive consideration to Dumanis before opting for Filner because we consider him as someone likely to stir us out of our complacency and be a force for positive change. At the same time, we were pleased when we received via the Dumanis campaign a letter from Congresswoman Lynn Schenk outlining her reasons for supporting Dumanis even though the DA is a Republican while Schenk is a Democrat. Our happy thought was that we can have the best of both worlds by electing Filner as mayor and keeping Dumanis (who is in the middle of her term) as D.A.
This, by the way, earned the ire of a surprise reader — a woman who identified herself as having been incarcerated for contempt because Dumanis didn’t treat her fairly. What was surprising to me is that the complainant reads San Diego Jewish World— perhaps because our stories come up high on Google lists and she reads whatever the Google search engine finds about Dumanis or Schenk.
Small worldism–the conversation about Dumanis occurred at the Del Mar Fair, and as I flipped through the program for the fair, I noted that Frederick Schenk — the brother of the former congresswoman– is vice president of the fair’s board of directors. Good for him. The president, by the way, is Adam Day, the son of former San Diego State University President Tom Day. Others serving on the board are Lisa Barkett, Ruben Barrales, David Lizerbram, Russ Penniman and David Watson.
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RESTAURANT IN REVIEW — Thinking about the blend of foods available at the Del Mar Fair made me reflect on a far more rewarding culinary experience I had earlier in the day at the Jade Thai and Mandarin Restaurant, located in the shopping center at the north side of the junction where Friars Road becomes Mission Gorge Road. This restaurant, which became the property of Rachel Su and her husband Henry Ma one year ago, offers two menus–Thai and Chinese.
As is reflected by its delicate wall hangings, the restaurant had been exclusively Thai when the new owners bought it. Ma and Su hail from Harbin, China, which is in the far north of the Chinese mainland near the Russian border. Their city was refuge for many Russian Jews in the early 20th century who fled from pogroms and revolution, and who later moved on to Shanghai, and from there onto Israel. Ya’acov Liberman, who used to write a column on world affairs for us, grew up in Harbin and Shanghai before migrating to Israel and much later in life to San Diego. He describes his Harbin life in the book, My China.
I particularly like eating at the Jade for several reasons. First, of course, the food is good, with many opportunities to sample what, to my western palate, are pleasingly exotic blends of foods and spices. When Su (who runs the restaurant) added the Chinese menu as well, options further expanded. But whereas some restaurants that have a wide range of selections end up pleasing no one, Jade has limited itself to the two cuisines that its chefs and owners know well and take pride in.
Another reason I like the Jade is that it allows me to go there with those friends who consider vegetarianism a suitable substitute for strictly kosher cuisine. There are curries, tofu dishes, vegetable medleys and soups that are free from any meat whatsoever, and can be considered pareve by Jews who are willing to go to restaurants without a mashgiach. At the same time, there are various chicken and meat dishes (as well as shell fish and pork dishes) for those who want it. So the restaurant caters to people whose diets may vary considerably.
The third reason I like the restaurant, I’ll admit, is the sense I get of being pampered. Rachel Su greets me by name, asks about members of my family whom she has met, and knows that I love to drink their Thai Tea. She also knows that more often than not, I will order Pra Ram, which is a vegetable medley mixed in a peanut sauce. One can add to it any kind of topping, tofu for vegetarians, and various kinds of meat for others.
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All AboUT– In closing, I’d like to weigh in on whether my old alma mater, the San Diego Union-Tribune has improved since it has been taken over by Doug Manchester. I’d say its local coverage has improved immensely. While some people think its emphasis on local news at times goes overboard, I do not. The section it ran on Junior Seau’s suicide helped our city cope with the inexplicable loss of a football hero. Its celebrations of the accomplishments of two wonderful teenage girls — Jessica Sanchez, who finished as runner up on this season’s American Idol television show, and Snigdha Nandipati, who won the National Spelling Bee — helped every county resident to schep nachas from the accomplishments of these young ladies. In so doing, the coverage also illustrated how rich and culturally diverse our county really is. Sanchez describes herself as half Mexican and half Filipino and “100 percent American,” and the same American percentage applies to Nandipati, whose family hails from India. Adding to the cultural mix, I’d like to say Mazal Tov! to these young ladies and to the U-T.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com