ny minutes

Baseball bakes you into the land.

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 23:26:29 -0400

Baseball bakes you into the land.

Hollywood Haze. Recalled in NYC.

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 16:06:46 -0400

Hollywood Haze. Recalled in NYC.

Every once in a great while the ELF hum cuts out all of a...

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 17:52:32 -0400

Every once in a great while the ELF hum cuts out all of a sudden, as if a plug were pulled, and you’re surrounded by utter silence. And if you look up at that moment and find your beautiful daughter enveloped in her own quiet equipoise, lost in 10 year old thoughts of what could be or what just was, it’s a gift. As close as real life gets to magic.

photorothko: Photo Rothko No. 211 How clever are these.

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 07:28:29 -0400

photorothko:

Photo Rothko No. 211

How clever are these.

Or they will certainly ASSERT that they do.

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 07:27:28 -0400

Or they will certainly ASSERT that they do.

Nothing like spending winter in summer-land. Today’s lunch...

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:46:59 -0500

Nothing like spending winter in summer-land. Today’s lunch menu at the The Foodbarn in Noordhoek, a gorgeous nook tucked away under Cape Town.

#guiltypleasures

At the End of My Most Unforgettable Father’s Day. That’s our ten...

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:16:00 -0400

At the End of My Most Unforgettable Father’s Day.

That’s our ten year old son, Jordan, on the left, and his friend Robert on the right, a few hours ago. In our Ivy-League-focused-from-the-womb Westchester suburb, Robert has always stood out for being a little slower off the mark than the other kids, a little too loud and impetuous, a little too clumsy, and a little too into Harry Potter minutiae. So it didn’t surprise us that, in kindergarten, Jordan took an immediate shine to him – Jordan instinctively goes for the underdog, and he anointed himself Robert’s personal protector and agent. Now, in fourth grade, Robert is a part of the crowd, his quirks tolerated by all and even appreciated by a select bunch of discerning types.

Robert’s mother, Melissa, died of colon cancer three years ago at age 41, leaving him in the care of his father, Evan, a garrulous Scotsman with a smile a mile wide who played right into stereotype by working as a master distiller for premium Scotch whiskeys and a brand ambassador for Johnnie Walker. Finding oneself a newly minted single dad would be hard enough for any man – but try pulling it off in your mid-seventies, which is how old Evan was. He and Melissa had met at a Scotch tasting he was conducting in his kilt, and the 30-year age gap evaporated like Brigadoon in the mist.

With Melissa gone, my wife, Jen, stepped up to mother Robert and smother Evan with help and support.

And then four days ago, Evan went to the hospital with what was diagnosed as a gall bladder problem, which somehow led to congestive heart failure, which soon had him in a coma, where he lies tonight with little likelihood of recovering.

Evan’s older son, Gregor, Robert’s half brother, called Jen with the news yesterday. Jen, slammed in the solar plexus, invited Gregor to bring Robert to our house for Father’s Day, so that he could be around his pal Jordan. Jen then rounded up Robert’s soccer coach and his family, and another schoolmate and his family. Like that, the quiet family hang we’d been planning was transformed into a community intervention, as well as, it seemed, a way of huddling together for reassurance against the frightening vagaries of fate.

From the moment we got the news, the image of an orphaned Robert, who had already been consistently dealt the worst hands life had to offer, plagued us. The boy who needed more support than anyone we knew was about to find himself with even less, all alone in the world. Sure, I could play his dad for a day – but what then?

And then Gregor pulled up, with his lively wife, Paula, two-year-old Clara, five-month-old Baby Evan – and Robert, beaming in the bosom of his family. “Hi, Mr. Jordan’s Dad! Thanks for having us over!” he called as he spilled out of the Volvo and tore into the house in search of Jordan.

The day flew by, for all of us. Gregor and Paula were relieved to be out of the ICU for an afternoon, and Robert and his five schoolmates spent four straight hours in the pool, with no weirdness whatever about the situation they all knew Robert was facing. Gregor matter-of-factly said he’s going to be Robert’s dad, and would accordingly need to learn baseball and basketball. Paula said that given Evans’ age they had known that one day they’d inherit responsibility for Robert’s care, and that while they didn’t expect it to be quite this soon – one month after they’d providentially moved from Scotland into Evan’s finished basement – it is what it is and they were going to make the most of it.

At the end of a sun-drenched day, they piled back into the SUV – a sunny couple in their thirties and the now three in their care, Robert cozily squeezed between two car seats. A family, eluding the shadows together.

Evan doesn’t know it but this was the best Father’s Day of his life. Thanks to sons like Gregor, and Robert, and Jordan, and daughters like Paula and Jen.

Electric Bombay turns out to be the coolest store in Mumbai -...

Thu, 05 May 2011 08:24:21 -0400

Electric Bombay turns out to be the coolest store in Mumbai - exactly as advertised by Tumblr’s own John Maloney. Thanks for the recommendation, john.io! #livinguptohype

30 years in the TV business, I’ve never seen a control...

Tue, 03 May 2011 07:36:23 -0400

30 years in the TV business, I’ve never seen a control room with the lights on. But that’s how they do it here at Delhi’s Zee TV. And it must work - they operate seven news networks (including Hindi, Bengali, and English) - out of two floors, without missing a beat.

In India, Obama v. Osama is the lingua franca.

Tue, 03 May 2011 07:27:12 -0400

In India, Obama v. Osama is the lingua franca.

Dont’t forget The Verdict. no12: Network? Not so much....

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:48:14 -0400

Dont’t forget The Verdict.

no12:

Network? Not so much. But Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, 12 Angry Men and, ahem, Murder on the Orient Express.

Rolling Stone’s 2008 profile The King of New York.

washingtonpoststyle:

Ever since high school, my favorite movie has been “Network.” Its director, the uber-mensch Sidney Lumet, died last night. Here’s a medley of clips from his movies. Get ready for a week’s worth of Lumet appreciations on this Tumblr. [DZ]

HAIR OF THE DOG DEPT. Does this not perfectly capture...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 17:57:29 -0400

HAIR OF THE DOG DEPT.

Does this not perfectly capture “Sunday brunch at the Boathouse”?

Thank you, No. 12!

No. 12: The cabbie

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:48:23 -0400

No. 12: The cabbie: This is one talented writer.

no12:

(From Laurie)

milesofsquares:

I was heading home from a useful day of running errands.

10th and 2nd I told my cabbie. My credit card machine doesn’t work he said as he pulled over the cab in the West Village. I had 10 dollars. I got in.

We drove through the village. A red light turned…

If you’ve ever wondered, as I have more than once,...

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:33:05 -0400

If you’ve ever wondered, as I have more than once, “what the hell is Ekin’s point?” then behold: EKIN’S POINT, BRITISH COLUMBIA. Don’t let the surface serenity fool you.

Did you see it? Spectacular. latimes: Stephen Ceasar reports,...

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 23:40:04 -0400

Did you see it? Spectacular.

latimes:

Stephen Ceasar reports, “As the sun sets in the west on Saturday, the biggest, brightest moon in about 20 years will be begin peeking over the Eastern horizon. The so-called ‘supermoon’ will appear about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than normal, according to NASA.” Incoming rain clouds might obscure the view in Los Angeles on Saturday night, so to all would-be moongazers and photographers — road trip? Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll even see a supermoonbow.

Photo credit: Hyungwon Kang / Reuters

Been waiting for this. humanscalecities: Global earthquake...

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:31:59 -0400

Been waiting for this.

humanscalecities:

Global earthquake activity since 1973 and nuclear power plant locations

john: “A pavilion for a new subsection in pop culture and I...

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:30:02 -0400

john:

“A pavilion for a new subsection in pop culture and I commend this incorporation for starting this new social movement”

- Thanks for the pretty spectacular letter, Doris in Alabama

Why not, indeed…thetickr: With everyone hustling and...

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:22:09 -0400

Why not, indeed…

thetickr:

With everyone hustling and bustling to complete their brackets on time, why not take a timeout and watch a highlight reel of the best NCAA calls ever by Gus Johnson.

justement: Alana Riley, Day in and Day Out from the...

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:45:14 -0400

justement:

Alana Riley, Day in and Day Out from the Extraordinary Monotony series

http://www.alanariley.com/index.html

I was going to “like” this, but I love it.

shortformblog: newsflick: Radiation fears after Japan...

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 10:55:09 -0400

shortformblog:

newsflick:

Radiation fears after Japan blast

This goes with our previous post for context.