Upon the passing of Lou Reed this week I mentioned that I knew him and he had played my fraternity party in Roslyn on New Year's Eve December 31, 1962. This inspired Cayce Crown to nickname me Zelig. She references Woody Allen's Leonard Zelig a nondescript enigma who pops up everywhere. I don't know if I can live up to Zelig's ubiquity, but I …
When I was young and in high school and college I always sat in the back of the room. When I was in law school and they had the Socratic method I was always in dire fear of being called on and having to present. This was not only because I was sometimes unprepared. Needless to say, as in the case of many, I was in dire fear of public speaking. …
When I was young I had a Super 8 movie camera and a movieola film editing machine and for a time fancied myself a movie maker. As with many of my youthful fascinations, I did not follow through and my Hollywood aspirations were suspended. Yes, when I grew up to be a lawyer, we represented New Line Cinema and my college roommate became head of L …
I have become a snap shot artist with the advent of my iPhone 5 which has a far better camera than my old Blackberry. I fancy myself not so much an artist as a shutter bug. Someone who seizes the advantage of having the instant ability to see a picture in my mind's eye and take it "in the moment". A perfect everyday example is above. What …
The title above is the pass word conceived by Gotham Videographer Cayce Crown ("I shoot your relatives so you don't need to") for the Gotham Film Festival (our 3rd annual is on 10/22) site. When I first saw the password I was both surprised and complimented as she had captured my entire 16 year Gotham adventure in a short string. Growing up …
I admit that I always looked down my nose and barely tolerated the dog lovers who constantly peppered me with pet pictures and their related cooing. Over the years we have had dogs, which i have tolerated, and one wonderful cat (Kitzel). As many of you may know, this year, after many petless years, I submitted to my wife Joanne's request and we …
When I was initiated into my college fraternity the final test was the "Black Hole" into which the upper class "Bothers" piled the pledges. Many a boy broke in the "Black Hole" under the weight and closeness of the crammed in mass of hormonal humanity, but more broke with their first experience with claustrophobia. Since that time I have been p …
Sly and The Family Stone had a great song: Every Day People. This is a story about one of those people. 2 Weeks ago at the Gotham golf outing I was sitting in my cart just before the start. A grizzled old caddie approached and introduced himself to me as Joe. I asked him the year of his birth. He said 1935 and I said "78 is pretty old for a cad …
This is another blog about our new puppy Charcoal (a little 10 pound Shnoodle). Last weekend Joanne went out and I decided it was the perfect opportunity for me to take Charcoal out on a walk on the road. It was our first "road trip" and I was nervous. From the start she was straining at the leash far more heavily than her 10 pounds. Every time …
One of the many many things my wife Joanne does so well is make sandwiches. I often muse that if all else failed she could open up a world-class sandwich shop and I would just be the server. Last weekend Joanne made chicken salad with celery, dill, lettuce, home grown tomatoes and Hellman's mayonnaise (a very important ingredient) on toasted so …
I admit that I am competitive. Does being competitive make losing harder to bear? Gotham has two softball teams the Gotham Bombers and the Gotham Batmen. I pitch for the Gotham Batmen. Last year we finished in first place. This year the Batmen finished in second place with a nine wins and two loss record. The season begins in April and end …
It's true... having a puppy is like having a new baby and in our case "a late in life" one. We did have dogs in the past.. but then they ran free and no one worried about what they ate. I certainly never learned how to walk a dog on a leash... still haven't mastered that trick. The training is all about me learning how to teach Charcoal. Just g …
I took last Friday off and went to lunch with Joanne. Rather than going to our regular haunts we tried to be creative and she suggested that we have lunch on the top floor of Lord & Taylor in Manhasset on the "miracle mile". As we entered the store my mind flashed back some 60 years to the time that my mother brought me there to buy my trea …
Inasmuch as wall units were invented in 1945, I am older than air conditioning as we first knew it. We got our first wall unit in the 50s. Prior to then, on hot summer days we took midday cold showers, ran through the lawn sprinkler, sat in a kiddie pool, rode our bikes as fast as we could while still wet, went to the beach (without suntan lotion …
A week ago, The Bodega Tall Boys, my son's band, appeared at William Skody's Cafe Wha?Words can barely describe how wonderful the experience was for me, i.e., enjoying and witnessing Alex doing what he loves best and doing it well. Making things even better was the fact that we were surrounded by family, friends, Gothamites and fans.Representative …
Fridays With Fred
A perfect way to send you into your weekend