The American Masters documentary, available to stream on PBS, “Groucho and Cavett”, is a heartwarming look at two American originals. What did a NYC Jew, born in 1890, and a Baptist Iowan, born in 1934, have in common? It was the love of a great joke. Groucho Marx was the hilarious star of Broadway and movies with his brothers, Harpo and Chic …
I like the exercise of goal setting at the beginning of each year. I am far from a stickler for grand goal details and tracking, but I always find that just the process helps me focus. I don’t really like the idea of “resolutions”. I think goals are different. Sometimes my goals are personal and sometimes professional, most times both. This …
Today is the day we celebrate the Reverend Martin Luther King’s birthday. As you all probably know Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. During his lifetime, Dr. King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. I did a little research o …
We were clearing a wall unit in Marisa’s (former) room when I found my original glove (baseball mitt) and subject of a blog or two; it has been missing for sometime; I’d been using a newer glove that Marisa decided to use when she played. I thought that glove got lost several years ago. Shelly said she knew the glove was there; never thought to ask …
Walking into a coffee shop in the Garden District in New Orleans yesterday, there was what looked like a manikan, colorfully dressed, sitting on a shoe shine chair. The manikin looked awfully real to me. I watched (him) carefully and saw that his chest was moving up and down. In about 20 minutes his eyes opened, ate a beignet and then started to c …
What was the very best Holiday present you received last year? No question, mine was from granddaughter Maggie Klein. It was Storyworth. To learn more visit www.storyworth.com. The concept is that every Monday I receive a question, eg, What was your first job? I answer the question and add an appropriate picture and it goes on and on weekly …
The other morning, I heard a little piece on WNYC about clutter.It reminded me of a friend of my father who we visited in Tel Aviv many, many years ago. He was a local celebrity of some sort.What struck me most was the organized clutter in his apartment. The highlight of which were end tables constructed of piles of books. Despite it all, there was …
“M3gan,” a movie about a robot/doll playmate is a big winner at the box office. The doll, known as Megan, was created by a genius Artificial Intelligence scientist. Allison Williams, of “Girls” and “Nope” fame, plays the inventor of Megan beautifully. The 9 year old sized doll can respond and initiative conversations appropriately. Her brillian …
If you were to choose a local trip for four or five days, where would you go? We are talking about taking a mini vacation. Not too far away but far enough that it feels like vacation. There are so many places we have not been that are on the "list". Savannah, New Orleans, Nashville, the Berkshires, and many more. Such great locations, I keep …
Growing up, my family had assigned seats at the dinner table. My father sat at the head of the table with my mother to his right and my brother to his left. It was very important to my father that the head of the table be designated as his seat. Even when my dad was away on business trips-which he was often as a camera salesman-we would never sit i …
In advance of giving Tuesday, I wrote about the capital campaign for Services Now for Adult Persons, Inc. (SNAP), an innovative social service agency – which I serve as its board chair (Renee Richter also serves on its board as does former Gothamite Evelyn Miller Suber, spouse of Gotham Queens member Tony Suber; Mindy Stern also served on the board …
Maybe this gets filed under "Only In Florida" Florida deputies arriving at the home where a 911 call originated, found a male suspect and his girlfriend inside the home. While talking to police, the female suspect told them that she had called 911 for the purpose of having law enforcement help them move their belongings from the house they were b …
On New Year’s Day I decided I would make New Year’s resolutions. Having reached that conclusion I then pondered what they would be?I conjured that I would Live Right and drink more water. Boring?Not if I fulfill it!
This past Tuesday was a “First Day Back.”My five year old granddaughter was having a lot of anxiety on Monday evening about her First Day Back to kindergarten. Her mom suggested that she speak to me. I told her that I also had anxiety about my First Day Back and that I took something new with me on my First Day Back - especially when it was a new y …
Three Oscar winning directors have used used their love of movies as inspirations for their new films. Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelman’s”, Sam Mendes’s “Empire of Light”, and Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon” explore the power of film to tell stories. “Babylon” looks at the transition of movies from the silent era to the talkies. The journey of 3 ch …
