In a whirlwind appearance, I saw and briefly “interacted” with a good number of merchants and their products at The International Restaurant and Foodservice Show of New York at the New York City Jacob Javits Center.
The best, at least most practical way of reporting will be a listing of these people/companies. A few will be listed today, I recommend checking their sites, as there were fine products and personable people involved. An early listing with more to come at the end of this post.
Two or three provided a bit more time and really stood out and I will cite those in more detail.
An unbelievable taste and a great guy, best describes the product at http://www.truffleist.com and the owner Jimmy Kunz respectively.
Check the website listed again below for other products and quite a story! The mustard and truffles butter were incredibly great.
Others:
mightleaftea.com
http://www.himi-products.com, there will be more details on this company with the freezer/cooler curtain in future posts. Representatives were most informative.
Michael J. Rossi is an amazing man. His http://www.vigofoods.com and http://www.alessifoods.com are places to find amazing products. The rock salt, authentic and superb at http://www.alessifoods.com

Visit http://www.himi-products.com to see great products such as pictured above.
Two years ago, the Washington Nationals were perceived as the best team in baseball, no less the NL East.
However, they did not even qualify for the playoffs, the NL East crown going to the New York Mets.
Last season, the Nationals and Mets were considered virtually even before the season.
The Nationals under Dusty Baker won the division while the Mets were a home wild card team.
Neither team won in its round.
This season Washington is a slight to moderate favorite to win the division with the Mets easily the second choice.

The four teams in the AFC North are a combined (8-4) in Super Bowl games.
Three of the teams have two in its record column, be it wins or losses while the fourth team, the 1999 expansion team, Cleveland Browns have never so much much as won a playoff game, failing to qualify in all but one of their 18 seasons.
Pittsburgh (Steelers) has more Supe wins than any other team, (six) while losing only two such games.
Baltimore (Ravens) won both their Super Bowl tilts while Cincinnati (Bengals) lost in both of their Supe appearances.

Starting with his polite bow upon introduction at a recent Hudson Society event, continuing through an interview with interesting, humorous information right through his incredible guitar play, Laurence Juber showed why he is a consummate performer.
His stories were great, George Harrison “bestowed” the gift of music upon Lawrence and wife Hope’s daughter C.J. when she was two days old and she is now a songwriter having worked with many top contemporary artists.
Tuber treated the audience to about thirty minutes of his guitar solos. An amazing version of “Paper Moon” and some Beatles songs were included.
He will be at “Beatles Fest” at The Hyatt Regency in Jersey City today. Included below are links to his fine website and on how to purchase his books.
Laurence Juber – Official Site
Amazon.com: Laurence Juber: Books, Biography, Blog …

The superb performer, Laurence Juber pictured above.
On March 2, 1962 in a season in which he averaged an incredible 50 plus points per game, Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in an NBA game in Hershey Pennsylvania.
That means 55 years have passed since that time, the same number 55 as the mind boggling 55 rebounds Wilt once recorded in an NBA game.
Recently in a fine piece in Sports Illustrated about the great Baltimore Colts’ defensive player, Gino Marchetti, I read that Gino was at the game in which Wilt scored 100 but left well before its conclusion.
50, 55, 100, Wilt and a tidbit about Gino Marchetti as the unbelievable night in “neutral court” Hershey lives on, now 55 years ago today.
Wilt, 100 what can I say?!
The last two baseball champions meet today in the state of Arizona. Of course it is an exhibition game.
One man, a great money player, which is what counts, not accrued statistics, Ben Zobrist, played for and contributed mightily to both the 2015 champion, Kansas City Royals and the 2016 Chicago Cubs.
Alas the Cubs ended a 108 year title drought with Zobrist delivering the go ahead to stay double in the top of the 10th inning of the decisive World Series game in Cleveland, where regrettably so many fans were rooting for the Cubs.
A year earlier Zobrist was a key member of the Royals, as they ended a 30 year title drought.

In reading Paul Votano’s fine biography of the great player, Tony Lazzeri, (Tony Lazzeri A Baseball Biography) I am learning so much about baseball history, especially the great Yankees’ history.
Though I did not listen to him, no wonder my father who “suffered” not rooting for them, told me early on, make it easy on yourself and be a Yankees fan.
Even when I truly disliked them, I marveled at their great history.
In reading the Votano book about “Poosh Em Up’ (Lazzeri), I learned not only did the Yankees get the great pitcher Charles “Red” Ruffing from the Red Sox (as Votano wrote, them again, oh and I will slip this in, I do not see the Sele 2017 Red Sox, but time will tell on that one), but that his record with Boston was (39-96) in six seasons.
It is truly incredible he was 102 games over .500 as a Yankees’ hurler.

On a rainy, most recent Saturday night, I added to my list of witnessing transcendent performances in any field, having seen Ed Dixon in “Georgie” a one person play, in which he stars and wrote, now playing at The Davenport Theater 345 West 45th Street.
While telling the truly captivated audience about his experiences with and stories told by the legendary performer, George Rose, Mr. Dixon, who attended Oklahoma University, did so with the precision and greatness, that marked Bud Wilkinson’s great O.U. (Oklahoma University) football squads during their halcyon days.
I watched Ed Dixon transform himself with his eyes, his timing impeccable, as he morphed into Rose, Sir Ralph Richardson and other greats.
Sitting in the second row, hearing one great story after another about stars, the inner workings of Broadway and Mr. Rose’s Winnebago and all that entailed, I said to myself this is greatness, well worth the walk in the rain, even the wet shoes and pants.
Then as the subject matter turned nearly 180 degrees from pleasant, Ed Dixon’s performance, inspired by its harsh reality, became even better, a truly high bar, set skyward.
This was one of the great performances I have ever seen and having forgotten my umbrella, upon my return, this was told to a gracious, Ed Dixon.

Ed Dixon, pictured above, truly brilliant in “Georgie.”
Click below for ticket information.
Georgie My Adventures New York – Tickets for Davenport Theatre | ticketofficesales.com
His book has to be great! Click below for information on how to purchase it.
It is not that big a stretch to say Jeff McCarthy IS Kunstler, as his riveting performance in “Kunstler” (now through March 12th at 59E59 Theater B) transformed me back in time, to the real life, brilliance and charm displayed by the indomitable William Kunstler, when I saw him, only months before his death, in 1995.
Mr. McCarthy’s performance was amazing as he exuded the charm and common sense/”sechel,” that made William Kunstler, a one of a kind brilliant man.
Certainly the events, the activism and the controversy all part of Kunstler’s legacy, were addressed and performed in great fashion.
A lightning rod toward that aspect of Kunstler in particular and a great presence on stage is Nambi E. Kelley, whose character, “Kerry’s” life history is tied to Mr. Kunstler, with contrasting emotions.
Both McCarthy and Kelley, alone and together, give us great insight and revelations about events, many seminal, in which Kunstler was an integral part.
There is much I learned and there is a terrific, revealing, heartfelt conclusion to this superb play, about a man that truly engaged on behalf of causes.
“Kunstler” directed by Meagen Fay and written by Jeffrey Sweet is a journey through much of the important history in which Mr. Kunstler participated, with superb acting and to quote a superb actor/ performance, Maximilian Schell in “The Man In The Glass Booth,” “RELEVANT,” oh how so!

Jeff McCarthy, pictured above, gives a superb performance in “Kunstler”
Click below for ticket information.
59E59 Theaters – Official Site
Another manifestation of the recent Super Bowl result is that the NFC South remains the only NFL division in which none of its four inhabitants has both won AND lost a Super Bowl.
Both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in ’02 and the New Orleans Saints in ’09 won in their only Supe appearances.
Two other expansion teams, the Atlanta Falcons (’98 and ’16) and the Carolina Panthers (’03 and ’15) lost in both their Supe appearances, each losing once to the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.
The other seven NFL divisions house at least one team that has both won and lost a Super Bowl game.
