This morning on his radio show on WOR-AM, John Gambling spoke of a rumor that the Steinbrenners are quietly putting out feelers gauging interest in buyers for the Yankees. Word is Hal hates a lot of the players, which is understandable, as all are overpaid and many are juvenile ingrates or jerks. Apparently, the Boss’s heirs do not need the same go
Since I really enjoyed the film adaption of Chuck Palahniuk's first novel, The Fight Club (1999), I looked forward to reading his second, Survivor. I was disappointed. His work is described as minimalist, transgressive(?), satirical humor. I did not relate to the characters, who are on the fringes of society. Their indifference to life made me larg
"...faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." These words are familiar to all, spoken by Paul in First Letter to the Corinthians. Almost every day I receive mail from one charitable organization or another. When I had a real job, I'd cut a check, usually a small amount, to more than five different organizations. As a
Every year at this time the community runs an event called Bayfest, where artists display and sell their works along the Sheepshead Bay promenade, and local businesses set up tables to promote themselves. There is music and entertainment for children. If the weather is right, I usually try to horn in on the activity, setting up the floating booksho
The results are in - I paid $42 for 100 shares of Facebook, $300 less than I was willing to lay out. So if it craps out I stand to lose $4208 in my retirement account, which won't make a difference in my life. It's acceptable risk. I am expecting the stock to lose at least half its value, as I believe the overall market is headed for a big dip, fin
Here's the latest review of Killing at Amazon, posted by a friend: "Lead character Dante's lot in life during the course of this novel leads him (and the reader) to experience a gamut of emotions: anguish, uncertainty, suspicion, despair, indifference - and rage, to cite a few. These are triggered by family dynamics, which include a son off to figh
I finalized the All Hallows screenplay and it's now available as a Kindle book. I'm not completely happy with the way it came out, but I'll live with it. I worked hard to clean it up and get the format right. I laughed when I noticed a particular error in the preview copy. My scanner back in the '90's mistook a lot of the small l's as ones, so a ce
I've spent too much time at the computer today. The floating book shop was rained out, so I had a lot of hours to kill. A few days ago I mentioned that I was working on publishing a screenplay, All Hallows, to Kindle. The original manuscript was uploaded to my first PC with a scanner. The file required a huge clean up. The typical screenplay format
Last night I watched yet another adaptation of an enduring literary classic, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Basketballs, episode two of the current BBC series Sherlock, which brings Holmes and Watson into the present age. Thankfully, it put fresh, high tech spin on the story. It would have been pointless to do it the same way. There are
I'm experimenting with Kindle again. Some time in the early '90's I wrote a screenplay, All Hallows, wherein five inmates escape from an asylum and terrorize the small fictional town of Bela. What I intended was a revenge of the townies story, pure fun. Throughout I make references (i.e. The Bate-Myers Institute) to film and TV fare baby boomers an
Jon has purchased both Close to the Edge and Killing from me, so when he published a novel through Book Locker I gladly ordered it when it became available at Amazon. I just finished The Man with the Silver Skull Ring, part one of Paradise Lost. I enjoyed it, although it could stand some tweaking. It is more well-written than most self-published bo
I caught up to The Ides of March (2011), courtesy of Netflix. It is well worthwhile. George Clooney wore many hats during its production: Producer, Director, Co-Writer and Co-star. He does his usual smooth work, perfectly cast as an ultra-liberal Democrat vying for presidential nomination. The character expresses the views Clooney has so often in i
The above are The Cleveland Five, members of Ohio's Occupy Wall Street movement, who didn't think enough was being done, so they decided to blow up a bridge. Fortunately, they proved incompetent at detonating the explosive devices they used. I guess they should've used the new underwear bomb Al Qaeda has developed. Rich Lowry's op-ed piece, syndica
There are many nice surprises in life. Such was the case today when I played hooky on the golf course with my buddy Cuz, our third round of the season. I did not play last year because of hip pain. Given that it had been a year and a half since I'd taken to the links, I wondered if I'd ever break 90 again. I did so this afternoon at Forest Park in
The sportswriter I respect most, Phil Mushnick, is under fire for comments he made Friday in his column in the NY Post. For years he has concentrated his criticism on the sports media, chiefly television, exposing the sins of the likes of Cablevision, which owns the Knicks and Rangers, Nike, the local pro teams ticket-gouging practices, the network
Sad news out of the music world today. Brooklyn's own Adam Yauch, 47, founding member of the Beastie Boys, has succumbed to cancer. I'm not going to pretend to be hip about rap. In fact, I find a lot of what I hear from passing car stereos absolutely appalling. Years ago I did enjoy a couple of funny tracks and their accompanying videos, Will Smith
30 manhole covers have gone missing in NYC. Authorities assume they are being sold as scrap metal. Some weigh as much as 300 pounds, which would yield $30. Given what some potholes will do to a car, imagine what driving over an open manhole will do. This is not a good trend. According to a report on the Mother Nature Network, vegetarians have a 39%
Last night I watched another of the music videotapes I made, this one from the mid '90's. What variety. even Ed Sullivan might have been envious. Three of the songs were from a Gary Moore concert done in a small venue or studio. He does a great duet with BB King and, of course, the monumental Still Get the Blues For You, on which he reaches into th
When an author titles a book A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (2000) he'd better deliver. Dave Eggers did so. I just finished his critically acclaimed memoir depicting the tragedies he endured while in his mid 20's, and the responsibility they engendered. Most of the narrative takes place within his mind. The reader sees the good, bad and
My reaction when I saw that another Planet of the Apes films had been issued was skepticism, derision. When I noted the positive reviews for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I was still not convinced. I reluctantly added it to my Netflix list. I'm glad I did. Despite its outrageous storyline and the one-dimensional portrayal of many of the human cha
