This is to thank all of you who contributed to Gotham's annual Season of Giving. To be more precise, tax deductible contributions were made by many of you to Gotham's Foundation and totaled $20,000 this year. Special thanks are extended to Marc Halpert, Gotham's credit card purveyor who donated back over $500 in credit card fees and Raj Goel, Mich …
I really really like CVS. Maybe I'm even addicted. So much so that I feel for our long term local pharmacy, but how can one resist the avalanche of discount mailers and bonuses that spew out when you pay?Last (Black) Friday I was armed with saved discount chits and slips. I attacked with the plan that the more I bought the more I'd save. In the …
Friday is not Black for this Fred!Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday on which families gather to feast and give thanks. This year I have so very much to be thankful for:I was born in America the Free and fortunate to have parents who wanted to make a better life and provided me and my sister with excellent values and extensive education. …
Joanne went to a Film Festival last weekend and left me home alone with Charcoal. Home Alone: The prospect was alarming and sad. I anticipated a pretty lonely experience only highlighted by feeding and walking Charcoal. However, things began to look up when I asked my 2 teen aged grand children if I could take them to dinner and a date was made …
Be honest, how many of you had the will and endurance to stay up last Wednesday night through the early hours of Thursday morning for the 10th inning, post rain delay, 7th game, Cubs 8-7 World Series, first in 108 years, victory?That's quite a lead, don't you think?After all, the Cubs had to exorcise the curse of the goat and free Steve Bartman fr …
Only 4 more days until Election Day!Thank goodness. I don't know about you, but I just can't wait for it to be over and done with. In all deference to our hallowed democratic election process, it has been a most harrowing and dreadful experience for me. What about you?Simply put, the election process is WAY TOO LONG! I ran marathons in my prime …
My wife Joanne was fortunate to have been in the Howdy Doody show's Peanut Gallery in the halcyon 1950s. She also won the first Met Banner Day in the turbulent 1960s. Some say she should also receive an award for navigating our family over our 50 years of marriage. What Awards have you won?
I have been writing my Friday With Fred blog for nearly 10 years and it has become a regular part of my life. At any time, a subject might strike me and I rush to write it on my iPhone. Contrary to another regular blogger, I tend to keep mine short and to the point and today's point is that I would like suggestions as to topics you would like to …
Recently, I was minding my own business as I ascended the subway escalator when I heard one person ask the other "how are you?" The response was "great, only better is you". Really? I never heard such a thing. Is it some sort of 21st century compliment?I'm happy with who I am!
Here's hoping that Hurricane Matthew peters out. Here's hoping that the East coast is spared and that damage and injury is minimized. Right now we don't know the full impact and then there's the possibility that it will curl around and return to hit Florida again. Mother Nature is all powerful. Here's hoping she is merciful!
Last Saturday I went back to our old High School (we still live in Roslyn) to take in the Roslyn High School Homecoming football game. So many memories welled up, eg, it is the same field on which Joanne was a cheer leader and upon which I played soccer. Better yet, I was joined by my son David and grandson Jackson, Roslyn High School attendees a …
I belong to 2 Book Clubs, yet I do not read. Rather, I commute to the city by car and listen to books on CD. It is a very nourishing way to pass the time. I belong to an all male book group which is presently reading James Kaplan's great biography: Sinatra: The Chairman. I also belong to the Gotham Book Club. The Gotham Book Club is the brain …
Rashomon was an iconic 1950 Japanese movie wherein a number of eye witnesses to a horrendous event each had a different version as to what happened. The Rashomon effect is contradictory interpretations of the same event by different people. It is said that the effect is not only based on differences in perspective, but occurs where such difference …
On June 9, 1954, during the Army-McCarthy Hearings in Washington, D.C. Joseph Welch, Chief Counsel for the United States Army, had had just enough and famously said "until this moment, Senator, I think I never really gauged your cruelty, or your recklessness....have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?"Have you had just enough?
Big Sexy is the affectionate ironic nickname pinned on the Mets 43 year old 285 pound pitcher Bartolo Colon who has been the winning pitcher in 230 big league games in a MLB career which started in the last century (1997). That's a lot to say about an ever smiling Dominican man who has become the people's choice. He can do no wrong!He just has thi …
Fridays With Fred
A perfect way to send you into your weekend