Tune in today, August 17th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive

People don’t care.

At best it’s a high grossing film with hugely declining numbers after opening weekend that never plays on pay cable or a streaming service, that you can seek out if you want to but most people don’t make the effort.

This is radically different from Vietnam. I remember watching the exit on television in a world where I never watched television, because there, but by the grace of god, went I.

The draft. You could get your ass shot off in a futile war. Why?

That was the difference. You hit eighteen and you were at risk. All those wankers worried about vaccine cards/databases are babies compared with those of us who had to register for the draft. You couldn’t escape. If you were eighteen, they found you. Oh, you could go to Canada, but that was back before most of us had been there and realized how great it was. You were scared.

So, in Vietnam we were holding back Communism. There was even a name for it, the “Domino Theory.” If we didn’t fight in Vietnam, many more countries would fall to Communism and…

Yes, Communism was the bogeyman back then. We’d seen Khrushchev bang his shoe. We’d seen the wall go up in Berlin. There was the space race. It was us versus them.

And then Reagan solved the problem. WHAT?

Any student of Communism knows that it fell from within, that Reagan had almost nothing to do with it. Just like it’s not really Biden’s responsibility that Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, it was going to happen, it was just a matter of when we pulled out. In the west we were worried about religious governments and the mistreatment of women, then again, many in the U.S. are auguring for religious government and are involved in the personal health of women while they refuse to be inoculated against a pandemic. Don’t try to employ logic, it doesn’t apply.

So what was the enemy in Afghanistan? TERRORISM!

Then again, as soon as we invaded, the brass exited for Pakistan.

Then again, the focus was on Iraq, even though Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11. And you wonder why people don’t trust the government.

If you’d lived through Vietnam, you were against the incursion into Iraq. I wrote so, I was against it, check it out.

But America had changed. As a result of the Iranian hostage situation at the end of Carter’s term. Now, it was all about aggression. Which isn’t hard to believe if you listened to the music. The sixties were about peace and love, FM was unformatted, for hipsters, for explorers. But by time we hit the end of the seventies, we had years of formatted aggressive and meat and potatoes rock on FM in every hamlet and burg and this was the music that fed the yahooism of those who never had to face the draft, the bullies who hadn’t been anywhere and thought the U.S. was the indomitable greatest country in the world without flaws.

And then it got worse.

Reagan’s legacy is really income inequality. Maybe that will be pointed out in generations to come, after his anointment as a saint fades in the rearview mirror. Reagan lowered taxes on the rich and suddenly it was open season, everybody who was about love one another in the sixties was about getting theirs in the eighties. And Clinton just supercharged the whole thing and appeased the right along the way, eviscerating welfare benefits. Now we were not all in it together, now there were the workers and the lazy, the givers and the takers, the rich and the poor, and if you weren’t a winner you were a loser, and denigrated by society.

And then came the internet. And suddenly billionaires were everywhere. They weren’t just bankers. And along came social media, which put us all in our own hole with our own influences/news. And politics was no longer about making the sausage, but digging in your heels and fighting the other guy, in the case of the Republicans the leaders literally said they wanted to make sure Obama, and now Biden, got none of their ideas passed into law. This way, they could solidify their base like a high school basketball crowd and then…

The crowd took over the asylum. Suddenly, the rich on the right were no longer in control, but the rank and file, who used to be Democrats, but were ignored by the technocrats when globalization came a-calling. And people were pissed. And the Democrats missed it, the Republicans harnessed it, and then realized their traditional values of the unrestricted marketplace run by the elite no longer worked. Turned out the underclass on the right wanted health care just like the left. So what we’ve got now is a bunch of bloviating elected officials playing to a theoretical base whilst hurting their constituents at the same time. This is DeSantis, this is Abbott. In what other world does the government INSIST on not protecting its people? INSIST on a free-for-all? All in the name of freedom, when the truth is that term used to mean something back in the days of Communism, but now most of Europe is more free than the U.S. and the Taliban may require burkas, but it’s an endless culture war in the U.S., we argue whether bakers have to bake cakes for gay weddings. Do people really care about this? No! But these are touch points elected officials believe will rile their base.

Like Benghazi. Quick, ask a Republican to find Benghazi on a map. Quick, ask ANYBODY in the U.S. to find Benghazi on a map! Almost no one can, because they just don’t care, it was really a fight about Hillary Clinton, not the people who died over there.

So, the nature of our country has changed, yet the boomers running the nation think it’s still the same. That we’re horrified, absolutely horrified I tell you, that the Taliban overran Afghanistan in a matter of days and Afghans were crowding the airport. Cool pictures, but what does that have to do with me, the average American citizen? Our airports are chaos. We’re fighting over masks on airplanes, duct-taping passengers to their seats, we don’t even know how to fight for our own lives. And when we’re confronted with the option to do so, to save ourselves, an incredible swath of the nation says no, we’ll go unvaxxed and unmasked, screw collateral damage, we need our freedom! It’s positively tribal, in many ways no different from Afghanistan!

And the Afghan president was powerless and the Mujahideen were braggarts without portfolio, never mind desire, and the Taliban walked back into power. Not radically different from the Republican takeover of 2016. How come we all assume tech will change constantly but not politics, not the temperature of our country? Then again, elected officials might have heard of TikTok, but they’ve never used it, and if you don’t think the youth have power you don’t understand the power of technology, its ability to rally and change minds. In many cases with disinformation.

So, it took twenty years to lose. Not that the outcome wasn’t sealed when we started. The movie had played before, with the Russians, who spent almost a decade in Afghanistan and left with their tails between their legs, having accomplished nothing. Why did America think it was different? It never even asked that question. It just thought it was so powerful it could win anywhere. And it took twenty years for the nation to wake up and realize this was not true.

If you want something not to break, don’t buy American. They keep telling us manufacturing should come back, but even our iPhones are made in Asia.

I’d never ever buy an American car. Except maybe a Tesla. But even that has me hesitating, because of their poor build quality.

You see Americans are all about lifestyle, they don’t want to work too hard, and why should you, when you can’t get ahead, when you can’t win, when unions have been eviscerated and Jeff Bezos jets into space on the money he made off the backs of overworked warehouse employees? Check the numbers, Amazon is soon to become the biggest employer in America. And sure, that’s Bezos’s money, legally, but why weren’t there higher taxes? And most Americans aren’t even invested in the Wall Street game.

It’s rigged.

So now we’ve got talking heads who were arguing about the culture wars yesterday opining about Afghanistan today. The game is bigger than the players. As in the subject is irrelevant, it’s just about the endless arguing. And Lorraine Ali, an old rock critic who has become a TV critic for the “Los Angeles Times,” has it right when she says these “news” outlets have nobody on the ground in Afghanistan, these far-flung places, so there hasn’t been a continuing flow of news and the truth is all these stations quote the “New York Times,” which everybody seems to hate because it’s self-flagellating in public, trying to work out its woke issues in the light of day when every other outlet has an iron curtain, and doesn’t buy into the right wing b.s. Yes, the right wing outlets telling us Trump won… The MyPillow guy has gotten much more coverage than anything happening in Afghanistan, check it out.

Lorraine Ali: “American TV ignored Afghanistan. Until parachuting in to watch it fall”: https://lat.ms/3mafPG5

So, this week the spotlight shined on Afghanistan. Assuming you paid attention, and the truth is most people don’t, check the TV news ratings, they’re minuscule, it was horrifying. But most people probably saw a headline online and then moved on. As for evaluating what this means for America at large? People have lost the power to think. Schools are so worried kids might learn about slavery, or something triggering, that they don’t teach students how to analyze, sift the truth from the dross. People are literally INCAPABLE of doing this. So it’s all emotion, all the time. And emotion can’t compete with facts. Then again, we learned in the last administration that facts are fungible, Kellyanne Conway literally told us that, and now the truth is literally up for grabs.

So, Afghanistan is really far away. Many Americans hate Muslims in principle. People are hurting so much that they want to take care of America first, instead of spending trillions overseas. As for the long term impact…well, get in line, behind climate change and so much more. The young care about the future, but the old are too busy balancing the interests of fossil fuel providers, weighing business consequences, while America continues to drift, like a sailboat with a luffing sail.

Meanwhile, the Delta variant is raging and businesses are getting hurt (that’s a fact, you can read it in the “Wall Street Journal”) and despite tight Covid restrictions California’s economy hummed and the state’s coffers are loaded with dough and…

If you can make sense of it you’re spending a lot of time paying attention.

But most people don’t have either the time or the inclination. Their priority is not Afghanistan, it’s not the news, and since the news became entertainment, and we all know it, why should we take it seriously now?

But if you were at home, eighteen years old, worried about being shipped overseas to a place no one you’ve ever known has been to, and risk getting your ass shot off in a futile war, you’d be very concerned. You’d actually be happy the U.S. pulled out. Because it would mean you were saved. Also, you’d be questioning these foreign incursions. All in the name of humanity, your own safety. But ever since the all volunteer army came into being politicians send our youth overseas to be killed willy-nilly and…

The rest of the populace just say they volunteered for it.

But the truth is so many of them had no other option. They needed the money. Or they saw no viable future. Come on, without a college degree it’s almost impossible to get ahead in America. One can say that the army is college for the underclass. They learn discipline, a trade, and hopefully this will pay dividends when they come back to the mainland. But that’s quite a risk, one the average American DOESN’T WANT TO TAKE!

So the truth is we’ve got no investment in Afghanistan, almost none whatsoever, except for the troops who fought and died over there for nothing, just like they did in Vietnam, and sure, we’ll get some movies down the line, but that won’t replace your legs, never mind your life.

Then again Americans don’t even want to protect their own lives, they’d rather play Russian Roulette, go unvaccinated believing that they won’t get the Delta variant and end up on a ventilator and possibly die. Yes, you see the losers of this game in the news every damn day and the unvaccinated don’t care, do you think they really care about Afghanistan?

We shouldn’t have been there, certainly not for this long. But people are so afraid of TERRORISM!

But the real terrorism, cyber-crime, goes unaddressed. Ergo the constant compromise of government computers, never mind cases of ransomware. But we’re still busy building infrastructure for a ground war that will never happen while our own infrastructure can’t be fixed. Yes, read about the trillions spent in Afghanistan basically for nothing and then think about the pothole that ripped apart your tire and bent your rim. And you wonder why people are angry. We need to focus more from the bottom up as opposed to the top down. We’ve got to educate, inform and take care of the disadvantaged. We’ve got to give them opportunity. But we can’t, because we’re in the midst of a tribal war.

As for the Afghanistan pullout causing a hit to our international reputation…the truth is America has fallen in the eyes of the rest of the world already. Just go somewhere and listen. But no, better to be an ostrich believing a fantasy until it’s all over.

Now don’t lay that America, love it or leave it, b.s. on me. Of course there are great things in the U.S. And sure, people clamor to come here, but not everybody. Because it’s pretty damn good in many countries. And the real reason people come to America is economic opportunity, which we quash at every turn, making sure the poor stay that way and the rich lord over them.

Used to be we could count on artists to lay down truth. Yes, musicians told us the Vietnam War was a bogus effort with huge costs. But today the headlines in music are about brand extension and wealth. It’s little different from wrestling. And the movies are about fictional superheroes, there’s literally no truth there. There’s a vacuum of truth and honesty but it’s very clear why that’s so because…IT DOESN’T PAY! And life is tough, and unlike in the sixties and seventies you can’t survive on minimum wage.

So, this Afghanistan story will blow over, and it won’t have legs, except for politicians trotting it out as denigration of Biden, without talking about Bush II and Cheney getting us into this mess, never mind Obama and Trump continuing it. We’ve got the blame game. Hoping you’ll vote for the “innocent,” assuming you can vote at all. That’s right, in today’s America not only can you not make it economically, you can’t even vote.

So keep telling us how bad it is in Afghanistan, how poorly it was handled. If you want us to slow down and look can you at least have some nudity, some TikTok clips, have some fan fiction about a superhero coming in to save the day? Because otherwise…WE’RE NOT INTERESTED!

It’s a music movie.

I’m stunned at the lack of buzz re the new season of “Ted Lasso.” Today there were articles about its Christmas episode, but only one hand’s worth of people have e-mailed me about the show since it launched. It seems like Apple and the media did such a great job of promoting it that they no longer allowed fans to own it. Or maybe it’s just not that good, I don’t know, I haven’t seen it yet, I’m waiting for the season to finish before I dig in, I only binge.

And there’s been a concomitant amount of promotion about “Coda.” But no one’s e-mailing me about it whatsoever.

The hype was hard to miss. Sundance winner. Marlee Matlin insisting deaf characters be played by deaf actors. But it appears the hoi polloi just don’t care, that newspaper coverage is the circle jerk of Twitter for the entertainment industry, but even worse, it has little to no effect.

It’s kind of like when people ask to send me their physical product, it’s streamable online, that’s enough, but these people feel better about themselves if they send the CD or vinyl. It makes them feel like they’ve done something, pushed the project along, when nothing could be further from the truth. Studios and streaming platforms massage old school media and believe they’ve done their job when nothing could be further from the truth.

But I heartily recommend “Coda,” as long as you can handle a heart-tugging, somewhat saccharine movie. But there are edges at times. And I really enjoyed it. It’s free with your Apple TV+ subscription, something everybody seems to have, since it comes free with Apple purchases, but there’s no talk about “Coda.” But if you watch it, you’ll tell other people about it.

So what we’ve got here is Emilia Jones as Ruby, the only hearing person in a family of deaf people, i.e. her parents and her brother Leo.

And you know how it is with films about disabled people, they’re perfect, admirable, sans edges. But not this family! They’re so busy talking you expect them to break an arm or a finger. And they use salty language. And Ruby is their interpreter, can they live without her?

Families. They don’t really want to let you go. They want you to be who they want you to be, and too often people can’t escape the pressure.

So the Rossis make their living fishing, in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Ruby is on the boat as their ears and she’s singing…

So what we know now is the hit parade, the Spotify Top 50, is so detached from what people want from music as to be laughable. As for Rihanna, she may be a billionaire, but she hasn’t put out an album for five years! So what is so surprising in “Coda” is when they sing songs… Like the Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing,” and Kiki Dee’s “I’ve Got The Music in Me” and David Bowie’s “Starman.” Yes, they’re old, but you can actually sing them, and the lyrics aren’t completely vapid. And when the choir sings them your heart will go pitter-patter, that’s the power of music right there!

And the astounding thing is Emilia Jones, an actress, has a great voice. She adds meaning to the songs. This is not some TV competition show, this is far from the flat screen. It’s not about riches, but the joy of music.

And getting into Berklee.

The music teacher, Eugenio Derbez as Bernardo Villalobos, is a graduate of the college and is deserving of an Academy Award nomination for his supporting role. At first he comes off hokey, but ultimately you realize he’s got a solid inside, that he’s got a code, which he lives by and insists his charges respect. And isn’t it always the arts teachers who can bend the rules with language and attitude and fully reach the students.

So, there’s a plot. Having to do with the deaf family and fishing and Ruby being an outcast and it all works, maybe because her family is so off the wall, in a good way. But there’s also the story of Ruby’s singing. And the question of her future. Will she have one? Or will she be tied down to the boat for the rest of her life.

Now I’m not exactly in the mood I was in after midnight when I watched “Coda.” That’s when things slow down and you can marinate in art, as opposed to today when I’m dealing with all the incoming. If I’d written this last night it would have less edge and more soul. But if I wrote this last night what difference would it make? “Coda” is not Afghanistan. Not that most Americans care about Afghanistan, despite the news, but my point here is we’re all in our separate silos and when the maelstrom gets too tough that’s where we retreat. That’s why art is king, it soothes our souls.

And when the movie was over, I immediately went to the internet to find out if Emilia really did sing, and more about the actors and the shoot. But simultaneous with my research I pulled up Apple Music to hear…

I started on Apple Music, since it’s lossless. But I switched to Spotify, because it was a much more thorough search, yielding results I was unaware of, you see I needed to hear…

“You’re All I Need to Get By.”

That’s the duet in the movie. As a matter of fact, there’s even a soundtrack, you can hear the two characters’ version here: 

https://spoti.fi/37LH4yb

I’m not going to link you to the YouTube clip, because you’ll learn too much about the plot.

Not that the iteration of the song will bowl you over, but you see they work on it throughout the movie, from recalcitrance to exuberance. You see and hear it build. And it’s so satisfying. And you know it, but it doesn’t sound anything like the original, who did the original again? MARVIN GAYE & TAMMI TERRELL!

But that was a hit in 1968, and Tammi unfortunately died not long thereafter.

Then again, Mr. V has the choir sing Marvin’s “Let’s Get It On,” which is both surprising and satisfying at the same time, can you sing this at school?

But the version of “You’re All I Need to Get By” in “Coda” is different from the famous hit Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell version, because it’s…

A cappella. Just the melody, the notes and the vocals, and it shines in a whole new way. The original hit is more of a record.

Now interestingly the first hit that comes up on Spotify is Michael McDonald’s version.

But there’s a take by Aretha Franklin. And Diana Ross. Nancy Wilson. Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams. And even Tony Orlando & Dawn, who made it into the Top 40 with this Ashford & Simpson composition in 1975. Now you know why all the money is in publishing. Write a great song and it’s FOREVER!

But the “Coda” version is unique in its quietude. It’s not a rollicking record, just high school students singing.

What do we need to get by?

It’s hard to stay focused in this overwhelming world in which death is always at the door. But then you watch a movie like “Coda” and it’s reinforced what you need is…

People.

Love.

And music.

Have all these and you’ve got the building blocks of life, and since the version of “You’re All I Need to Get By” is so stripped down in the movie the truth emanates, shines brightly and resonates.

Yes, watch “Coda” and when they sing you will fly. Taken to a place only music can lift you.

“You’re all, all that I want to strive for and do a little more

You’re all, all the joys under the sun wrapped into one

You’re all, all that I need to get by”

Carvel closed for winter and opened every year on my birthday!! (3/15)

My sister Jill

P.S. Also the Ben and Jerry’s seconds shop in Manchester . Never knew what you were going to get

____________________________________

How can I not weigh in?

You may recall my birthday party where I had ice cream flown in. When I was a kid my favorite flavor was chocolate, then vanilla as an adult, now coffee. And like you, H-D on Barrington.

Cherry Garcia was no. 1, then succeeded by Phish Food (like you). But then my favorite was From Russian With Buzz. I was crushed when I learned it was discontinued because I wasn’t able to stock up. I’m eating far less ice cream  these days. My B&J problem is being unable to find my current favorites Coffee Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz or Coffee Toffee Bar Crunch. Or being able to find newer concoctions like Chocolate Shake It and Chillin’ the Roast to sample. The website’s Flavor store locator isn’t reflective of a store’s inventory.

Harold Bronson

____________________________________

Hey Bob, it’s funny that you describe your experience with this flavor in this way. For me, the first few times I tried it, it was a downright sensual- almost sexual experience.
The thought crossed my mind more than once- “this tastes too good to be legal.”
My wife cooked up some stewed peaches the other day and I put the two together. Try Peach Melba with Americone Dream. Your brains will truly fall out.

Paul Burstyn

____________________________________

This has been around for a long time, back when Stephen was hysterically funny as his character on The Colbert Report, rather than just very funny now

It was a play on The American Dream and played to his characters inflated ego of having an ice cream named after him

And as usual with Stephen, the proceeds went to charity

Richard

____________________________________

What a fun letter….you left out  Magpies soft serve.  One on Griffith Park,  and one in Tarzana.   Vegan Ice Cream that will blow your mind!!  All hand made, not from some base that you buy in a drum.  Corn Almond, Black Sesame, banana caramel. OMG. So good.

Started by a couple of chefs that worked in fine dining, and then said screw it, and now just do really high end soft serve.

It’s one of the few addictions I have left.

I’m driving down there right now!

Kim Bullard

____________________________________

Two words: Muddy Bites  https://www.muddybites.com/

 jl

____________________________________

Americone Dream is heaven on earth. And as you said, left to slightly unfreeze – incredible. Glad that it does not come in a larger container, as I’d succumb. I support local ice cream shops, but credit to Ben & Jerry’s: They get my money for this fantastic product AND for being good citizens.

Jim Mulhern

____________________________________

You really hit a home run with this article. Great writing!

My favorite ice cream experience is the memory of Gruning’s in South Orange, New Jersey.

Long closed, it was the scene of my parents courtship, as well as THE place for me to gather with friends after Columbia High School Saturday football games.

Everything I need to know I learn from Bob Leftzus .

Sincerely
Joyce Ann Martin
San Diego, California

____________________________________

If you like Americone Dream, Haagen Dazs has a flavor called Caramel Cone which is the same as Americone Dream but with caramel ice cream. I find it adds more depth of flavor and provides a more caramelly experience. Also, the quality of the Haagen Dazs ice cream is of a superior quality imho.

Scott Macklin

____________________________________

I worked in Carvel in high school for a year or so in the late 70’s. One of the best jobs I ever had because the owner said to eat as much as I wanted. He knew people would get sick of it after a while…but he didn’t know me. I ate ice cream every day I was there. When I got tired of chocolate, I switched to vanilla for a while. I was never a vanilla fan, but it’s still better than no ice cream. Explored the dark cherries, pineapple, marshmallow, the “bonnet” coatings and all the toppings. I ate as much ice cream on my last day there as on my first day. There was always a rush when the movie theater let out, but other than that, pretty easy job, and a fun job for a high schooler.

 

Perry Resnick

P.S. Did you see this new ice cream creation reality show? Starts tonight on Food Network. Curious to see if it’s any good. What can be bad about watching ice cream challenges.

 

“Ben & Jerry’s Creates Ice Cream for Man’s Best Friend”:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/fn-dish/news/ben-jerrys-dog-ice-cream

____________________________________

I grew up in Brentwood in the 70s… we usually went to the 31 Flavors at San Vicente & 26th….and the cones were .25.

BUT did you ever go to Swensen’s (“ice cream parlor” I think it was) on Wilshire near 26th… they had an orange chocolate chip (just googled: swiss orange chip) that was killer.  It’s now my mission to find that again.

Thanks for the sweet memories.

Katherine Turman

____________________________________

Heath Bar Crunch!

Richard Griffiths

____________________________________

Starting your ice creme story with the Amazon acquisition of diapers.com and ending with ‘ice creme soup’ is a lousy thru-line (pitch= “It’s a disaster movie for sweet-toothed parents that ends in a stinky mess”) but reading the details whet my appetite for more. Ordering from that neon menu at Robin Rose (after a coffee at the Rose Cafe across the street) was worth the drive (and the “tar foot” from walking on Venice Beach) from N. Hollywood every Sunday in the 80s. And the HD and Ben&Jerrys dip shops were great but did you ever have gelato at that place on Melrose a few blocks west of Flip? And how about that place on La Brea that serves the rose creme “Masthi Malones?” LA fusion at it’s finest.

These days I’m happy to live in Burbank where we have the B&R 31 Flavors HQ (and drive thru) in spitting distance. Cheers to great ice creme!

David Benson

____________________________________

Too bad Metropolitan Boston was a bit too far for your father to travel. He could have picked up some hand-packed Brigham’s vanilla ice cram and a half pint of the best hot fudge sauce ever.

Once John Travolta visited Boston at the height of his career. He was asked what his favorite thing about the city was. “Brigham’s”

Haagen-Daz – from Teaneck NJ!

Tom Quinn

____________________________________

Your Dad was spot-on re letting ice cream “breathe” like a good wine, except I prefer the hands-on approach of squishing and stirring it until the outsides gets runny and that is where you begin the spooning. Only a maniac would risk bending a spoon digging in from the top.

Our friends in Ottawa run a shop called the Merry Dairy and apart from their seasonal offerings (butter tart!) their coffee ice cream (which happens to be vegan, but whatever) is perfect for spooning into a lather and then working outside to inside. Added benefit: the joy of each spoonful is spread out over a longer period of time.

Vikas Sharma

____________________________________

I grew up south of Boston and my first job was at a Friendly’s directly across the street from my home.

 

As I was so close, I often worked the afternoon shift until closing.

 

There was a large freezer next to the front door where the half gallons were kept to sell to the customers.

 

When we closed, the Manager would sit in the last booth at the back of the room and would count the registers and when done would bring the money downstairs to the safe.

 

Since I was mopping the floors I would on occasion (ok, pretty much every night I closed) help myself to a half gallon, and leave it in the bushes out front beside the door while the Manager was doing his thing.

 

Where to begin?  Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Marshmallow, Butter Pecan, Strawberry and my personal sherbet flavors Lime and Watermelon.

 

On my birthday in July my parents would treat me to a ‘Jim Dandy.’  Four scoops of your choice, a full banana, choice of toppings, and of course jimmies and nuts on top.  Didn’t get much better but I digress.

 

There weren’t too many flavors  I didn’t help myself or my family to.  I took requests…

 

The statute of limitations is up right?

 

Wishing for a double scoop of Chocolate Chip with jimmies on a sugar cone (no waffle cone for me thanks) right now!

 

Regards,

 

Ray Levin

____________________________________

Bob, I am living your Ice Cream orgasm right now, but have your tried Tillamook? It’s from a creamery in Oregon and their quality and creaminess is The Best! If you are into Chocolate as much as your post indicates, you should try the Tillamook Mudslide. Trust me on this, it’s why I needed to buy bigger pants after a year into this PanDammit, plus it has helped me survive as a non drinking first responder, it’s my high at the end of the day.  They have three vanilla flavors, the Olde Fashioned Vanilla is the creamiest due to butterfat, even the dog prefers it to Vanilla Bean.  I will follow awaiting your trial, if I can get this Ice Cream in Florida, you should be able to get on the west coast.  Enjoy!

Robin Grab

Disenheartened Nurse.

____________________________________

We LOVED your Ice Cream blog. It arrived while we were at Handel’s homemade ice cream. I got the heavenly hash.  Julie got the Chocolate Malt with Caramel. We were sitting there enjoying the sugar high when you blog arrived. . .

www.handelsicecream.com

Russell & Julie

____________________________________

Great ice cream tale especially appreciated by a reader who discovered Carmel cone last week & immediately doubled my daily workout time.  If you haven’t read the artisanal ice cream story in today’s NYT Business section, you will be interested to say the least.
Thanks for being interesting & opinionated!
Joan Grayson

____________________________________

Amazing read… as I am enjoying Half-Baked!!!

And yes, Friendys was still in its prime when I was growing up in the 80s… if you can still find one the food is terrible but the sundaes are to die for

Gregory McLoughlin

____________________________________

Häagen-Dazs FRENCH VANILLA (with the bean specks) with MRS. RICHARDSON’S Caramel Sauce. Container and jar open in front of me, spoon dipped into each, in sequence, per bite.  I could have skipped right over my cocaine days if I’d only discovered it sooner. Though moderation is equally difficult for both substances.

Jim Neill

____________________________________

I’ve been hooked on Americone Dream for years. It’s the best!

James Staubes

Culver City, CA

____________________________________

You should try HALF BAKED… that may be the best one of them all !

Konstanze Louden

____________________________________

Love the Friendly’s and Carvel references.  GREAT story.  I grew up in West Hartford and spent hundreds of nights having their chicken strips basket or Big Beef and a coffee Fribble – extra thick.

Bret Clancy

____________________________________

You’re missing the best ice cream in LA, the amazing Persian place on Westwood Blvd.

https://saffronrosepersianicecream.com/

Best,

Alan Swyer

____________________________________

how about Farells and the pig trough??

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farrell’s_Ice_Cream_Parlour

I loved that place as a kid

– Ivan Arnold

____________________________________

Bob, ice cream should be the most passionate topic in the human dialog. Now you will be bombed by everyone’s claim of best ever.  These are mine.
McConnell’s
Graeter’s

Mike Dungan

____________________________________

Try Gingers in Culver. Best ice cream in LA

Ben Patterson

____________________________________

Chubby Hubby. Which, if eaten as much as I’d like, would turn me into one. It’s Vanilla Malt ice cream with chocolate-covered peanut butter filled pretzels and a peanut butter swirl. Holy shit.

Then comes Chunky Monkey for me. Those are all I need.

They stopped making my favorite Haagen Dazs flavor years ago, and I hate them for it: Vanilla Fudge. Their amazing vanilla with this never frozen fudgey swirl throughout. I still miss it. I boycott them because of it.

Carvel sucks now, by the way. I still need a flying saucer fix every now and then, but they’re fucking EXPENSIVE now. Not worth the price or the freezer real estate.

BUT…their ice cream cakes are where it’s at. No one comes close. And they’re so simple: vanilla, chocolate, separated by chocolate crunchies. Never did I find stale crumbs so appealing, but that’s basically what “crunchies” are. If my friends had a birthday party and didn’t have that ice cream cake – major disappointment. To this day, not a cake fan. But totally a Carvel ice cream cake fan.

Now where’s that Cookies n Cream?

-Rob Maurer

____________________________________

Addicted to Americone Dream since I first tried it… its the crack cocaine of ice creams… tho these days I rarely buy it any more because, well, it’s like the …

Wallace Collins

____________________________________

Jolene and I were addicted to Americone dream for years!  It is amazing. Before that ben and Jerry’s had the tonight dough with jimmy fallon’s image on it which we loved – they have since changed the ingredients on that which does not interest me.

Ben and Jerry’s now makes these 3 packs of americone dream dipped in chocolate – like hockey pucks. They also make chocolate chip cookie dough in this manner too. I keep on buying them and we cut them into pieces so I don’t pile on the pounds. You should try those too.

Eric Herz

____________________________________

You missed Blue Bell Bob!

Michael Murphy

____________________________________

You can still get an Awful Awful at all the Newport Creamery’s (basically Friendly’s) all over Rhode Island.

https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/rhode-islands-awful-awful-love-affair-history/

Jon Bahr

____________________________________

I’ve been totally hooked on Chunky Monkey for a few years now.  Almost every night a have some after dinner.

I’ll have to try Americone Dream!!

Alex Torrez

____________________________________

Karamel Sutra Core is Ben & Jerry’s best, IMHO.

But NOT Salted Caramel Core, something isn’t quite right with that one. They aren’t even close.

Andrew Yungkurth

____________________________________

“Refreeze”.

My Dad was a milkman for Quality Dairy in San Diego.  He was up at 4am everyday to go to work.  There were no refrigerated trucks, they used blocks of ice, so he had to load the trucks with ice.

Once in a great while the 1/2 Gallon tubs of ice cream would melt and refreeze later.  This ice cream was considered damaged and not to be sold so he would bring it home to us 3 kids.

After a while he was bringing home a steady supply of ice cream, perhaps it had only melted a tiny bit, I’m not sure, but the word “refreeze” had a certain magic at our house.

Of course this was before fat was bad for you, ice cream had a very high rating in the “pyramid of foods” and was considered very healthy for growing children.

If I was a billionaire I would buy everyone in the world an ice cream cone right now!

Ice Cream Forever.

thanks

Jack Tempchin

____________________________________

Dastardly Mash by Ben and Jerry’s was my all time fave. Chocolate ice cream with pecans, almonds, raisins and chocolate chips. I had a great college run with it in the late 80’s until it was unceremoniously put down in 1991. I’ve subsequently paid my respects at its graveside at the Flavor Graveyard at the Vermont facility. RIP.

Dave L

____________________________________

Dude….drooling. Purchasing first thing tomorrow Bob – DANK me lol.

Mike Serra

____________________________________

Haha, ice cream is also my weakness.I used to eat whole pints of Haagen Daz coffee ice cream in one sitting when I was young and skinny and could get away with it.

There is IMO an incomparable caramel sauce made by an ice creamery located in Piedmont, California in the Oakland hills called Fenton’s. Since moving to Los Angeles in 1987 I’ve searched high and low for a caramel sauce as good. I’ve bought every brand but most are made with corn syrup. Not Fenton’s! if you ever get up to the Bay Area go to Fenton’s and order a Caramel Sundae with Toasted Almond and Mocha Royale ice cream. Absolute Heaven. https://www.fentonscreamery.com/

I was overly excited  that after 30+ years of having family and friends mail me jars of their caramel for Christmas or birthday they FINALLY started to sell it online during the pandemic. I can largely blame my extra pandemic weight to ice cream and ordered jars of Fenton’s caramel. Like you, I say the simple pleasure of it was worth it.

Now, if they’d just open a creamery down her in Los Angeles!

Cheers to ice cream!

Anita  Zaccaro

____________________________________

There is – or was – a Jimmy Fallon flavor too; “Late Night Snack.”

I don’t even remember what the hell was in it, but it was genius. Sin itself. Literally beyond the realm of the cheat-meal senses; better even, if memory serves, than Americone Dream.

Which is also insanely good. But that Fallon one, man…🤯

Best,

Peter Zizzo

____________________________________

Bob, Ben & Jerry’s don’t make it any  more but their White Russian was ice cream nirvana. Jeff Hayward/Maine

____________________________________

We played a private in Alamo last night, and decided we’d drive the 3.5 hrs home to Tahoe after the show instead of grabbing rooms in Danville. My partner started reading your email aloud to keep me awake while driving. He finished reading it about the time I pulled into the Safeway parking lot in Placerville. We left 5 mins later with 2 pints of Ben & Jerry’s: Americone Dream, and Salted Caramel Almond. We polished off both delicious pints between there and Tahoe and sat in silent shame for the rest of the drive. It used to be girls and tequila. Now it’s Lefsetz and Ben & Jerry’s. Damn you, Bob Lefsetz!

Name withheld out of shame, embarrassment, and disregard for lactose intolerance

____________________________________

My pandemic jams were Justice Remixed https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/justice-remixd-ice-cream and Chip Happens https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/chip-happens-ice-cream. Chip Happens is a Netflix collab. It’s not the first time B&J had potato chips in the mix. I find myself pissed sometimes that Jimmy Fallon went to The Tonight Show because it killed their ‘Late Night Snack‘ flavor https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/sorry-jimmy-fallon-ben-jerrys-late-night-107344832491.html. ‘The Tonight Dough’ is as gormless as it’s namesake. I’m sure I’d prefer ‘A Closer Lick’… https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/arts/television/latenight-seth-meyers-ben-jerrys.html

Also try Glampfire Trail Mix, but it’s a Target Exclusive — https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/glampfire-trail-mix-ice-cream/

George White

____________________________________

In the early 2000’s B&J was fedexing weekly test pints of 1 sweet world to dmb mgt to try and decide what the right ingredient combo/ratio was. Pure heaven opening that package stuffed with dry ice and then having to microwave them because they were solid. The microwave was our breakthrough as well.

Ryan Burton

____________________________________

Refreshing topic…

Closing the night with a fork and pint of Phish Food, and an episode of Seinfeld- is a small victory reward for serving and surviving another day.

Simply terrific.

Nick Sproviero

____________________________________

Congratulations on your discovery.  It’s often not heavily stocked and finding a pint at a bodega is its own little thrill.

Lars

____________________________________

All good flavor choices. Certainly I’ve consumed multiple Olympic sized pools of ice cream. After all, it is the important food group where any size container is a convenient single serving!

All the best Bob

Robert Heiblim

____________________________________

Do you know Graeter’s, out of Cincinnati? Or the local McConnell’s? Both fantastic, though expensive.

Paul Slansky

____________________________________

Loved Friendly’s

Michael K. Clifford

____________________________________

For me it was Chubby Hubby that got me hooked on Ben & Jerry’s. It’s sad I can no longer find it where I live. But then again like you I know hard it is not to be able to find Dannon Coffee Yogurt anymore.

At this point I think if I found both of them I’d dump the yogurt on top of the ice cream and go sit under a shady tree and be in “harmony” as you put it.

Brian Kelly

____________________________________

It’s a bit sweet. Good though. Their best flavor was Vermont Blueberry which they made in the early nineties. It’s in the flavor graveyard now with little chance of being resurrected now that they are owned by the man.

Aaron Carlson

____________________________________

If you are ever in San Francisco, try Mitchell’s Ice Cream – one location only – not to be confused with others in the USA with the same name.
They have a wealth of flavors.
I have only been there twice since I live in Texas. It is the best ice cream I have ever tasted.

Mitchell’s is a family-owned business located in San Francisco’s Mission District. All of our ice cream is handmade in our shop daily. We make small batches of 16% butterfat, super-premium ice cream.

Regards,
Dave Machanick

____________________________________

Bob. Great post. Do yourself a favor and go to Ralph’s and try Tillamook ice cream. Delectable Malted Moo Shake. Oregon Strawberry. Mudslide.  3 different vanillas. Life changing.

Lawrence Y. Iser

____________________________________

I’m a Chubby Hubby kind of guy and probably in more ways than one (ask my Wife), but it’s those Fudge-Covered Pretzels that speak to me…

Tim Pyles

____________________________________

Great story – next time you come to Toronto, ask Jake Gold to help you find some of this stuff:

Moose Tracks®

Primo stuff! Keep well Bob!!

Ross Whitney

____________________________________

I hear ya, Bob. I ate a whole pint of Americone Dream Friday night, and considered chewing the cardboard tub thereafter. It was that good.

Scott Roback

____________________________________

Carvel chocolate soft serve cones dipped in hot fudge.
Not every store would dare do it, when the cone is 180 upside-down it could fall in and ruin everything.

The cold ice cream would crystallize the fudge and depending upon how quickly you ate it you had soft

Chocolate at the top and a hard crust nearer to the cone.

In order to prevent the ice cream from falling out, the server would “pack it” into the cone, kinda like people

Tamp their cigarettes when opening the pack (God forbid a tiny morsel of tobacco goes unsmoked, but I digress…)

They wouldn’t do it in my home town Westbury, Long Island. Had to travel to Hicksville to get it, well worth the trip!

Paul Bizzigotti

____________________________________

Loved this post. Here’s some comments on various things.

Here in Essex County, New Jersey, we had a Friendly’s in Livingston and a Bond’s in Verona. Both towns bordered my home town of West Orange.

Bond’s was the originator of the Awful Awful. They had a promo of “Drink 3 and get one free”, and posted the names of all those who did. There were not THAT many names! They were HUGE! Bigger than the Fribble.

Friendly’s was the first place I ever had a tuna melt (tuna & grilled cheese).

Carvel HAD the best ice cream cakes. Period.

Dairy Queen didn’t close during the winter in West Orange. We’d hang there after school and at night on week ends during Junior High. They used to have a thing called a Mister Misty Freeze. It was basically a flavored slushie, but with ice cream blended in. I loved lime.

I’ve always been a sugar cone guy.

Regarding Ben & Jerry’s: No love for New York Super Fudge Chunk?!

Kevin Kiley

PS Bettye is always on the hunt for Black Walnut Ice Cream. Seems that no one makes it any more.

____________________________________

I’ve been a skeptic, but I too want to believe in the Americone Dream.  I’ll try it out.  I’ve been pleasantly surprised by other flavors like Netflix and Chilled and Salted Caramel Core.  I’ll also try Phish Food sometime.  I was way into Rocky Road as a kid but marshmallows have lost some of their charm for me as an adult.  If I had to choose one out of them all, Chunky Monkey still reigns supreme!

Geronimo Son

____________________________________

Have you never tried Gimme S’more???  Now that’s 1 addictive flavor!!!

https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/gimme-smore-ice-cream

Leigh Lust

____________________________________

Nothing like a CARVEL cone. Even Conte’s or Maraczi’s couldn’t compete. Mitchell Dairy? Nope! Brock Hall? Nah. And the Westport Ice Cream Parlor? Forget about it! CARVEL ruled. Milford or Fairfield Center. Didn’t matter.

CARVEL briefly relocated its corporate offices to Atlanta when I lived there in the ’90s and we saw them sprout franchises all over town for about 20 years. Then poof! They started disappearing. Even the prized kosher CARVEL in Dunwoody is gone.

Where’d they go?

Ken Shain

____________________________________

I loved this piece so much.  Yes to Phish Food!  The only thing missing for me was a reference to Pralines & Cream when you were talking about BR.  Long before B&J, that was my go-to flavor.

And reaching back one more half-generation, this brought back fond memories of the Good Humor truck coming down my street.  Toasted Almond.  Strawberry Shortcake.  Chocolate Eclair.  And, in later years, Chocolate Chip Candy and, my all-time favorite, Chocolate Fudge Cake.

Thanks for the memories!

Scott Kauffman

____________________________________

Graters in Cincinnati — raspberry chocolate chip and mint chocolate chip. Flavors you’ll never forget.  And they’re quarantine friendly- packed in dry ice and shipped to your home. Good luck putting the spoon down

Rusty Young
MusicWorks C

____________________________________

Rum Raisin , Carvel soft serve with sprinkles and a Fribble……screw this boutique crap……..and I kept my old Hamilton Milk Shake Maker probably 50 years old with the original silver cup and it still kicks ass……..nothing else to say

Chris Apostle

____________________________________

Great post, maybe your most controversial ever.

I’m with you – chocolate marshmallow ice cream is (was?) the best flavor ever, and seems impossible to find these days, superceded by Rocky Road, which ruined everything by adding nuts.

And I think that Ben & Jerry started in the basement of the outpost store up in Burlington of Bennington Potters, founded by my childhood best friend Marty’s parents, David and Gloria Gil.

Microwaving that pint to soften it up is an art, and it varies by brand, by microwave, and also by freezer temp, which can vary.

Toby Mamis

____________________________________

Going to Friendly’s for “brunch” on a Sunday was a treat growing up. Also, any time after a school play or event – the parents would take the kids to Friendly’s.  I remember the Big Beef for sure. Remember the hot dog bun being grilled when getting a hot dog. My go to was the Jim Dandy. Chocolate, Vanilla, and Strawberry Ice cream, with all the toppings  and banana. Basically a banana split on steroids. Service a huge m, almost chalice like glass. So good. Loved the booths and the swivel chairs. A shame they are basically gone in New England.

Frusen Glädjé. Forgot about that. Great packaging!

Love ice cream. Pretty much only have frozen Greek yogurt these days…

Adam Lewis

____________________________________

Wow. I must try this flavor. I’m a chocolate and a vanilla guy. I live in East Nashville right near Jeni’s Ice Cream.

This is my ritual-

I walk up to Jeni’s.

I order online in advance.

This way I’m able to cut the line!

I order a pint of vanilla honey bean and a pint of darkest chocolate.

I walk back amd it’s perfectly softened.

I get out my favorite bowl.

Scoop away the perfect mixture of both flavors. Equal parts. Maybe a tad more chocolate.

Slice up a banana. Add almond slices. Add a few cashews and a couple blackberries and a few Rice Krispies for even more crunch. Then I hog it all down like a weirdo on a crack high. This is my ritual. You understand. I understand. We all scream for ice cream.

Today is the day I purchase some Americone Dream per your recommendation.

Thank you for this missive. It made me feel ok. Like I wasn’t such a bad person for my addiction.

May your B cells flourish. It’s time for you to get back out there. Here’s to hoping that this pandemic wanes and you’re able to once again travel.

Yer pal,

Steve Poltz