Having nothing to do one afternoon, my son Max and I went to see Annabelle. I have always been a fan of horror movies. There are basically three kinds. Monster movies, movies where young people are ripped or shredded to pieces, or movies about demons and the devil. For me that last catergory is by far the scariest. Just the other night I was …
An article in the Wall Street Journal today stated "A third of Kurdish Fighters are Women, Defying Mideast Attitudes and Altering Kurdish Sociatey." These Kurdish women are training and fighting on the front lines against the Islamic State and having success. It is such a total departure for the role women play in the Middle East. They have joine …
On Tuesday night October 21, 18 Gothamites who are also members of the Friars Club will meet for drinks in the Club's Lucille Ball Bar to discuss important issues of the day. On the agenda is expanding Friars Club membership in the Tribe. At present, the following Gothamites are fellow Friars: Bruce Swicker, Daniel Hochler, Danny Mizrahi, David Ste …
It was a large group -- about forty people -- invited to cocktails in the penthouse apartment on the sixteenth floor with a nice view of the city (not New York). The sole elevator came down to the lobby to carry a second group to the penthouse. We watched as the elevator loaded. It looked a little too crowded. We weren't going to make it on for …
If you haven't been watching the Major League Baseball Playoffs, something incredible is happening. The Kansas City Royals, perennial impoverished bottom-dwellers, made the playoffs for the first time since 1984. They finally built a team that was young and fast with great defense and pitching. Those are all things that people knew about heading …
When I first started driving more years ago than I will admit, I had lots of patience. Driving along on the Belt Parkway was a treat (yes, I was born and raised in Brooklyn) even when that sea of red lights showed up ahead. I remember so distinctly just turning the radio up and doing a lot of singing. Mostly Barry Manilow, Billy Joel and Bruce Spri …
Jane Jacobs posted a very intriguing question on Facebook last week, “What book do you wish you could read again for the first time?" I immediately answered “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood. For me, it’s the perfect blend of a tale of a futuristic society that appeals to my nerdy side coupled with a female main character who tirelessly str …
A full page in the Times on Friday advertised a coming auction at Sotheby's of a Mark Rothko painting. It is called No. 21 (Red, Brown, Black and Orange). Here is a picture of it. Not being a student of modern art, I have not heard of Rothko though apparently he is one of the most famous post war American artists along with Andy Warhol, Jackso …
Malala Yousafzai became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize ever at 17 years old. If you remember, she was shot in an attempted assination because she was going to school. At that time she was 11 years old and rebelling against the Taliban's orders for all girls to wear burqas and stay home. The Nobel committee also awarded the Peace Pri …
In addition to this weekly creative outlet I also utilize Facebook daily. Last week I posted the above photo along with the words "Until one has loved an animal part of their soul remains unawakened".Truth be told, they are not my words, but the tag line of our Pet Insurance company. Whatever their origin, these words muster up and describe an inne …
A friend of mine was riding his bicycle, albeit in the “wrong” direction, in a bike lane in the City a few weeks ago. He was stopped by a policeman for riding the wrong way and was asked for identification. Unfortunately, my friend didn't have any identification on him or in his bike pack. One thing led to another -- although I have no reason t …
Yesterday, a woman in my wife's office lost a young baby to SIDS after about 3 or so weeks. I am not blogging about this for sympathy or condolences. I only know her briefly as a co-worker of my wife. I can't imagine a much more horrific scenario in life. I do not need comments for this blog, I simply wanted to state in public how incredible an …
I am not spending enough time in the gym. It’s really that simple. With a long work day and worse, a commute on both ends, time to get to the gym during the week just doesn’t seem to be happening. I know I am not the only one with this problem. We all struggle with not having enough time in the day. For those of you who have figured out how to ad …
About a year ago, I wrote a blog about a memorandum which was sent to only the female attorneys in one of the largest law firms in the world. The memorandum was created by the firm’s Women’s Committee in order to improve their female associates’ presentation skills. Included in the memorandum were “tips” such as, “Your friends will still like you …
I wrote what I thought was a really good blog this morning. I had to do it through Explorer because for whatever reason Firefox does not let me post on the Gotham blog page. Just as I finished, my computer said Explorer is no longer working, and suddendly it all disappeared. I can't recreate it and am very frustrated. So no blog today from …
