Every year one of my friends reviews his relationships and categorizes them creating a top ten list. He has a bunch of criteria, some of which is strange but one particular point got me thinking.   His top friends are those who can he be most authentic with. As he says, "...the people when I'm around I can be myself, say whatever pops into my head."  

I have used iPhones since all the way back to my early Blackberry days, but just now hooked up with Siri.   Was I shy or just a Luddite?  No matter, we had no intercourse until my Apple computer Guru Steve Levy recently introduced us.  He asked if I used Siri and I said I did not.  He then patiently explained what I’ve been missing and proceeded to share her tricks:

I recently opened an occasionally-used news app on my smartphone. A notice appeared about the use of cookies by the app. Long legal explanations and disclaimers. A request to accept before going on. However, there was no ability to decline permission. I tried to get around the notice without consenting, but could not.

ON DECEMBER 5, 1955, FOUR days after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated city bus, a community meeting was held at the Holt Street Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Thousands of black citizens gathered to hear about the proposed bus boycott, filling every inch of the church’s sanctuary, balcony, and basement auditorium. Loudspeakers were set up to accommodate the overflow, which extended for three blocks in each direction.  

Still?     It is January 8 and I am still wishing people a Happy New Year. Are you?    

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to watch the CNN documentary about Gilda Radner, “Love Gilda.” It was truly an interesting documentary, a film that will stay with me.  

Best wishes in this first weekend of the new year. Many recent Gotham blogs looked ahead and share resolutions and predictions for this year. Instead, I continue practice to share a list compiled and commentary posted to my website on the top ten shows I attended in the year just ended. Hope you find the list --

I'm back! I took off the last couple of years and now I'm resureecting my predictions blog.   If you're interested...here's my record since 2007:   2007 - 1 for 7. (my rookie year:)2008 - 1 for 1 (gutsy picking one but it was spot on)2009 - 3 for 5 2010 - 2 for 32011 - 3 for 3!!! 2012 - 3 for 3!!!2013 I took a break, the launch of the new website took all my attention2014 - 2 for 32015 - 0 for 3, bad year but came close on the stock market2016 - 2 for 4