When we were young we worshipped the sun and could never get enough "Rays". "Catching Rays" with a reflector while coated with iodine laced baby oil was de rigueur. The above picture is representative of my "Chocolate Man" period. However, as the years passed (and the ozone layer burned away) baby oil morphed into sun screen as the sun began to …
This is a shout out for 2 Gotham Committees with which I recently worked: The Gotham Film Festival Committee (Chaired by Steven Skyles-Mulligan plus Cayce Crown, Judy Mauer and Gideon Schein) and the Gotham Green Awards Committee (Co Chaired by Corey Bearak and Josh Zinder plus Group Coordinator Sherry Rivera). Against tense deadline pressure eac …
My favorite type of reading (or listening to CDs, as the case may be) is a good biography about the life of an interesting person. Recently I finished those of Whitey Bulger and Oprah and I'm now reading about my former Syracuse classmate Lou Reed. Favorites have been about the lives of Truman, Lincoln (Team of Rivals), TR, FDR, Mickey Mantle, Ted …
< Have you ever seen the Dos Equis pitch man? They call him "The Most Interesting Man in the World". He is pictured above and you know what, I get it a lot that I look like him. There are a lot of worse possible comparisons. When it comes up I usually respond "I'm just his stunt double". At the recent Gotham Film Festival one of the winners …
I have kept a hand written daily diary religiously since 1/1/70. It is a ritual which serves many many purposes. Some of the positive benefits are historical and others are mental. I started reading it 11 years ago and each night I am reading 34 years ago today and a year ago today. The benefit of such perspective is immeasurable. The invariabl …
After 18 years of existence I venture to say that our Gotham Tribe is pretty amazing!Our unique giving culture has resulted in countless fruitful and sometimes miraculous results. Having said that, there is one draw back: We are sometimes too humble and we keep the good deeds between ourselves and the involved parties. In my opinion what we need …
On the eve of Halloween I know what my costume will be. It will be the same as always: Count Dracula. I choose the Count because, in a small way, I feel a harmless, but important kinship with him as I draw sustenance from interacting and conversing with people: networking, if you will. Without such sustenance I would be rudderless and lost and I …
During the recent exciting run for the Pennant by the Mets I posted the above photo and caption on the Gotham Sports Talk listserve and on Facebook. Inasmuch as most everyone knows me as a Yankee fan who proudly wears a Yankee hat it may have appeared to be hypocritical or front running, but, as they say, not at all.I was there as a fan at the Mets …
Being from the pre Baby Boomer Silent (who knew) Generation there have been many big changes over my lifetime. For instance: 1) Computers, the Internet-social media2) No Smoking in restaurants, etc.3) Legalized Abortion4) integration (Obama)5) Gay rights6) World wide economy (foreign cars)7) Beatles-Stones8) Global warming (flooding)9) Cable TV10) …
Over this past raw and rainy weekend I engaged in annual Fall rituals brought on by the change in what had been a wonderful long stretch of dreamy weather. I brought in the out door furniture, wore long pants and a jacket, swam my last laps, took a long drive on a leafy highway and rotated my closets. And, most significantly, Joanne turned on the …
The Pope's visit evoked memories. My mother was Catholic and she baptized me. In 1963 I visited the Vatican and bought a St. Christopher's medal for my mom. I kept a diary and on 7/14/63 I wrote that I then "went to St. Peter's Square to get it blessed along with countless others. At precisely 12 noon the window opened and Pope Paul appeared dresse …
This is a follow up to last week's Friday With Fred blog wherein I heralded last Friday night's Mets-Yanks Mania and anticipated a great night communing in our "special" center field bleacher seats with 124 other Gothamites. In the words of Gothamite Ellyne Finklestein it was "A perfect match up. Weather couldn't be better. 125 Bull pen seats fille …
As a life long Yankee fan I was flexible enough in 1962 to let former Yankee Manager and then Met Manager Casey Stengel's "Metsies" in as my second favorite team and am proud to say that Joanne and I won Banner Day at Shea Stadium in 1964 and I caught my only foul ball (off the bat of Felix Millan) in 1976 at Shea. I gave this background as prelude …
The Traveling Wilburys were a Super Music Group first made famous by Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne. They recorded two great albums in the late 80s and their "End of the Line" music will live forever. Someone utilized a clever turn of phrase and adopted their name for a fun loving later day group of marauding tra …
Yesterday I posted the above photo of the Williams sisters saying Williams will win last night's US Open match between them. Of course one of them had to win, but I had divided loyalty. In the end younger sister Serena prevailed in 3 sets against Venus, her greatest adversary and best friend. There were so many emotional sub texts. It was amazing …
Fridays With Fred
A perfect way to send you into your weekend