Self-Absorbed Boomer

"[A] delightfully named blog", (Sewell Chan, New York Times). "[R]elentlessly eclectic", (Gary, Iowa City). Taxing your attention span since 2005.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Zelda, the Battery Park turkey, says, "Thanksgiving, Shmanksgiving!"

Here she is, bold as brass, a little over a week before the holiday on which millions of her co-speciesists will be roasted or, for the bra...

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Someone in Myanmar visited my blog.

I'm delighted, of course. Could it be an indication that President Obama's visit to Asia is bearing fruit? Perhaps. I'm curious ...

Sunday, November 08, 2009

The house that Jeter is building, and the aftermath of a victory parade.

The old Yankee Stadium was called "The House that Ruth Built". Will the new one be called "The House that Jeter Built"?...

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Please bear with me.

No sooner had I returned from Florida, where Mom is now doing fine, when my Vista-cursed computer suffered cataclysmic OS failure. I am in t...

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Live blogging Florida-Georgia from the Tapper Pub, Tampa

For the First Time Ever in History, Georgia wears black helmets. Dawgs won toss, chose to kick. Gators promptly marched to TD. On their fi...

Marine art preserved in a New York subway station.

In 1913, the elegant Hotel McAlpin was completed at Broadway and 34th Street. The artist Fred Dana Marsh was commissioned to produce painti...

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Score one for the Real Baseball League: Phils 6, Yanks 1

Cliff Lee outpitched his old friend C.C. Sabathia, who gave up two dingers to Chase Utley, as the Phils beat the Yanks in the Series opener...

Monday, October 26, 2009

The Series from Hell?

According to Lisa Swan , a Yankees versus Phillies Series should give any Mets fan agita . This Mets fan wanted the Yanks to win the penna...

Sunday, October 25, 2009

College football: USF falls again, and a fearless prediction.

The South Florida Bulls, designated gladiators of my alma mater , appear to be reiterating a familiar process, i.e. start hot, get a big ups...

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Bach's third Brandenberg, two ways: Advent Chamber Orchestra and Punch Brothers

The clip above is of the first movement, allegro , of J.S. Bach's third Brandenberg concerto, performed by the Advent Chamber Orchest...

Monday, October 19, 2009

Football, finally: Gators survive, Bulls don't.

I've held back on my usual commentary on college football this season, waiting for the shoes to drop. As of now, one has, but the other ...

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Bruce Wasserstein, 1947-2009

I was shocked, while skimming the news a while ago, to come across this Reuters story announcing the death of my law school classmate, Bruc...

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Still life with jellicle.

Jellicle Cats are black and white, Jellicle Cats are rather small; Jellicle Cats are merry and bright, And pleasant to hear when they ca...

Monday, October 12, 2009

Dolly Trolly wants you for an indie band angel.

Dolly Trolly (clockwise from top left: Sam Trioli, bass, guitar and piano; Tara Lynne Mallon, rhythm guitar, keyboards, percussion and vo...

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Yanks win, Red sox lose.

It's official. I'm a Yankee fan for the duration of the ALCS, and maybe for the Series. Sorry, Twif ; I hope you enjoy your quality ...

Saturday, October 10, 2009

John Prine, "Paradise"

Above, courtesy of jordanthecat , is a clip of a young John Prine, on the steps of what had been his family's house in Maywood, Illinoi...

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Baseball playoffs: where I stand.

So long as the Red Sox are in it, I'll root for them. Spousal loyalty and all that. If the Sox fail to make it to the Series, I'll...

Thursday, October 01, 2009

The Yale of the Beauforts demonstrates Google's continued superiority to Bing

Flickr photo by M Kuhn Your correspondent is in Tampa for a week that commenced with his 45th year high s...

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Opera on the street: Martha Cardona Theater

On my home street, Montague, in Brooklyn Heights, singers and instrumentalists from the Martha Cardona Theater performed this piece from D...

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Mets may blow their last chance.

Today, the Mets beat the Nats with superb pitching by Tim Redding, timely hitting by Jeff Francouer, Daniel Murphy, and David Wright, and a...

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Old-time country music from the green hills of Brooklyn.

Yesterday afternoon I attended part of the Twelfth Annual Park Slope Bluegrass & Old-Time Jamboree, at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical ...

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Melanie Hope Greenberg: "Beams of Hope"

Yesterday, riding the "M" train to Bushwick, I noticed the bright red pedestrian walkway on the Williamsburgh Bridge next to the t...

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Jeter ties Gehrig's record.

Much as I've made it clear that my dislike of the Yankees goes a long way back , and I think most Yankee fans (though there are importan...

Bravo Obama!

The details of the plan are good, if not all I might have wanted. What made the speech great was his peroroation in which he addressed the ...

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Self-Absorbed Boomer reaches the four year mark.

The fifth anniversary is usually reckoned the first biggie, but I can't resist giving the fourth a bit of fanfare. Thanks to my Site M...

Saturday, August 29, 2009

"Abundance", BWAC outdoor sculpture show.

The 27th annual Brooklyn Waterfront Artists' Coalition ("BWAC") outdoor sculpture show is set up in Empire/Fulton Ferry State ...

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Bruntlett's unassisted triple play: at least the Mets find interesting ways to lose.

Addendum: Today I'm reminded of what Greg Prince, co-author of Faith and Fear in Flushing , wrote some time back: "Being a Mets ...

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Your correspondent finds, to his great surprise, that he's a really cool guy.

Today's New York Times fashion section includes an article by Guy Trebay that starts with this welcome (to me, at least, if not to Ro...

Monday, August 10, 2009

Elaine Comparone and Queen's Chamber Band play José Bernardo's "Echoes from a Distant Land."

Several evenings ago, I had the pleasure of dining with Elaine Comparone at Bar Pitti , where she hosted a birthday dinner for an old f...

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Must there be a worm in every Mets apple?

I've given up watching Mets games this season, so as to maintain "my spiritual well-being, the stability of which [I am here borrow...

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About Me

: I was born in a city renowned in Vaudeville humor, Altoona Pennsylvania. My dad was in the military, so we moved many times in my childhood. We lived in rural England from the time I was five until I was eight, and I began my formal education in a county council school, where my being American is likely all that saved me from having my bottom caned. When I was eleven my father retired from the Air Force, and we settled in Tampa.I graduated from the University of South Florida and Harvard Law School. Since then, apart from two years' active Army duty, I have lived in New York City; and have lived in the Borough of Brooklyn for many years. I'm married to Martha Foley, an historian and archivist. We are proud of our daughter, Elizabeth, and our granddaughters, Ada and Sigrid.

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