I’ve always thought it was nice that you go through U.S. Customs in certain Caribbean islands before leaving the island. Convenient. And I wondered whether customs agents enjoyed their tours of duty on a Caribbean island. Several years ago, after we had recently secured our Global Entry status, we were leaving Aruba. We tried the express clearance and computer system. When we approached the agent, she asked whether we had any food with us. Apparently, we had checked the wro...

For the first time in history, thanks to the Succession to the Crown Act of 2013, Princess Charlotte, age 3, is now 4th in line to the Crown. She is still preceded by her father, her uncle and her older brother. Prior to the passing of the Act, her new born brother would have preceded her in the hierarchy. It simply states that the gender of a royal born after October 28, 2011 does not give that person, or their descendants, precedence over anyone else in determining the next...

  A new prince arrived yesterday. And the world rejoiced.     I have been a royal follower for a long time. Really, back to Princess Diana whose life, and death, I always followed.   Yesterday, I was taken by the fact that Kate, with a baby just 7 hours old, was dressed, poised and looking great showing off her new son on the steps of the hospital.     I remember what I was like when my children were 7 hours old. Trust me, there was no shot at a public appearance either...

  It seems that everything that was old is new again on television. First there was a Full House (one of my kids’ favorite shows) reboot on Netflix. That was followed by Will and Grace, which was the followed by Roseanne.     And now Murphy Brown is scheduled to return to television. What do you think about these reboots? Have you been watching?   ...

On Earth Day Join GOtham Green® in Celebrating Our GOtham Green Awards® winners   In advance of Earth Day which we observe today, Gotham Green® hosted its annual Gotham Green Awards® the past Thursday at Club Quarters Midtown.   Gotham Green® annually recognizes those who make a difference in our communities and the world by celebrating people and organizations, both Gotham members and non-Gotham members, who work in ways big and small; for-profit and not-for-profit, to make...

A good chuckle for a Saturday :-)     Police in Georgia shared this security camera footage of a GameStop store burglar who tried to conceal his face with an unusual disguise -- a clear plastic wrapper.   As pictured above, the video shows the male suspect wearing the plastic wrapper from a package of bottled water over his head, completely failing to hide his face with the clear plastic.   Police are asking members of the public for help identifying the "craftily disguised ...

One of the pleasures (rights) of being a grandparent is indulging (spoiling) the grandkids. Just such an occasion occurred this past Sunday when we accompanied my son Alex and his son Shawn to the Grasshoppers Comics store in East Williston. We arrived when it opened at noon and had the luxury of being the first and only customers. Our son Alex has been a comic book aficionado since his boyhood and it was an unexpected pleasure to hear him engage the owner saying "I have a l...

It is happening more and more frequently. There was a time when people were reluctant to share their cell phone numbers. Perhaps less so now and people are more accepting of being reached on their cellphones. In any event, if I must speak to someone (as contrasted to email), I generally first try them on an office line (unless I have an established familiarity that the cellphone is best). However, if I know that a person is hard to reach and doesn’t return messages ...

Today (Tuesday) I'm at the MAD group having lunch. Fred and Norm are there, chaired by David Mack and Susan Zinder, its my home group. I consider it an oasis. We had some great visitors, some brand new members, and the regular gang. We followed the usual format, everyone spoke a bit about themselves, what they do, and who they would like to be connected with. Then a little problem solving for those with questions, thoughts, ideas.   Nothing new. Nothing special. But that is e...

  How do I know? It’s not because the weather is warm and the flowers are starting to bloom. It’s not because the smell of grass has taken over from the smell of snow. Yes, snow does have a smell. It’s surely not because our percentage of meals on the grill has escalated.     It is because baseball is on the television in my house all the time – from morning til night. No exceptions. Our family rule about no television during dinner is suffering from serious spring season c...

  Somehow, I connected Fred’s blog last week with voyeurism. He had written about the history of special prosecutors and my comment was, “To be a fly on the wall in the special prosecutor's office. . .”     Obviously, my comment indicated my real interest in the inner workings of Robert Mueller’s office. I would love to see the evidence he’s going through, how he’s sifting through it and coming to his conclusions;  what his process is.   If you could go behind anyone’s d...

Just over was three years ago, Gotham lost one of its good guys – Jack Friedman who had passed away earlier today just days short of his 56th birthday. Fittingly because Jack enjoyed live music – we attended several shows together, I drafted a post to Fredslist and the Gotham website wall about his passing and the funeral and Shiva arrangements while attending a jam in Hicksville where I had arranged for my brother Rob in from Portland to play. His funeral like this blog ...

I, and other members of the book club I belong to, had a special treat last night. A delicious dinner at the Friars with the author of the book we read.   Marty Appel, author of 20 books, PR Director for the Yankees among other very notable achievements, was there to talk about his experiences with the Yankees and most importantly about his latest book, Casey Stengel. Wearing a World Series ring, he recounted many inside stories that we all loved to hear.   Now I could tell y...

President Clinton authorized the appointment of a special prosecutor in early 1994 concerning the Whitewater matter and in August 1994, the original special prosecutor was replaced by Kenneth Starr. In the fall of 1997, three years after the investigation started, Special Prosecutor Starr made an impeachment referral to Congress concerning the Monica Lewinsky affair, not Whitewater, and issued his final report in September 1998. The wheels of special prosecutions (justice) tu...

Last Sunday, we attended New York’s Annual Gathering of Remembrance, in observance of Yom HaShoah Holocaust Remembrance Day. One of the speakers was a Holocaust survivor who, like my mother, speaks to school children about her life. This woman took great pride in how, after surviving, she rebuilt her life and her family in the United States. The fact that she survived and prospered is her revenge for the atrocities she was subjected to. (I have always felt that, as a c...