According to the Gotham website, I have composed, to date, 284 Friday With Fred blogs for Gotham.In my dreams, they would make an interesting coffee table book, but for now I strive to continue fulfilling the creative task. At present, Gotham has seven daily Bloggers: starting with Corey on Sunday (a "tough beat" according to the previous Sunday bl …
Last week our telephone dial tone disappeared. My first reaction was to call the phone company (Verizon) and ask for a repair man. However, I could not find the telephone repair number on the telephone bill or in the Yellow Pages for Verizon. There was nothing else to do but resort to Google and I did so and I found a link for Verizon repair. I cl …
Last Friday the Batmen lost our season opening game 8 to 6. What's worse is that I walked someone with the bases-loaded and two outs to cost us the game. I have carried that loss and that misstep with me all week and it haunts me, yet motivates me to do better in tonight's game. I try to console myself with the thought that I should be appreciati …
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 ha …
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 Moni …
This blog is dedicated to Paul Napolitano who invited me to be his guest at the Yankee home opener this past Monday. Like a little boy, Sunday night, I was all excited in anticipation, but Mother Nature conspired to frustrate me as there was an unusually heavy Spring snowstorm in the night. When I awoke Monday I found that everything was blanketed …
In these politically charged times I am amazed at the number of people who I truly like and respect who are diametrically opposed to my political point of view. I think I have my feet on the ground and have a balanced point of view and am willing to listen to both sides. However, when I listen to some of my opposing view good friends I question m …
Forgetting money, everything has an inherent tangible value (more or less to each person and in differing situations or contexts). For example, when we visited Cuba in 2016 I brought little paper American flags which I saved after their use for decorations on the Fourth of July and inexpensive white Rawlings baseballs. Anticipating its unique …
When I vacation in Key West I have a regular Friday night routine of sitting on a bench across the street from the weekly "Sound Check" at Key West's iconic rock n' roll Green Parrot venue. I've come to consider the bench, fronting the Court House Deli, to be the epicenter of Key West culture and humanity. There, no one has a label or preconce …
Web Master Mitch and I have assumed the responsibility of composing our new opinion polls. The present poll appears below near the bottom of the website. Our first new poll pictured here was our most successful to date, asking Gotham's opinion as to the best picture Oscar and we called it right! The Shape of Water. A great call and a great flick …
We saw "Black Panther" last week in 3-D and to be honest I think it would've been a better choice to see it in 2-D. Passing on the quality of the movie which is breaking box office records, the experience was not a pleasant one. The picture was dark and blurry through the glasses and at times when there was no action I took off the glasses and wa …
One of my favorite songs is Dylan's Forever Young and my oft stated quest is to live to 100 and beyond. With this as background, I was very pleased to receive a link (http://bit.ly/2HFR65V) to a TED talk from Judy Mauer on the subject of "The Strongest Predictor On How Long You'll Live". According to the TED Talk, there was a Brigham Young Unive …
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that all of the shooters in the recent spate of our country's massacres are male. I have followed the commentary closely and not one person has made this distinction to my mind. If anyone can explain it I would welcome it. Said another way, why don't females engage in such carnage? On this subject and …
It was with nostalgic sadness that I learned that the venerable pre war Port Washington movie theater closed. Of course, with the advent of Netflix and their competitors it should not be surprising. Sad still, nonetheless. The Academy Awards will be announced on March 4th and in preparation therefor we try to see as many of the nominated films as …
One of the most valuable things my father ever taught me is that "There are three sides to every story: your side, my side and the truth". In these politically charged times we are constantly inundated with strong opinions on Facebook, Twitter or political list serves. I am struck by the self assured vehemence of people whose position or opinions …
Fridays With Fred
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