Blog Archives

There’s a touching documentary on HBO about Robert De Niro Sr., an accomplished painter. Worth watching.

“Woman in Red” 1961.

Series finale tonight in Seattle.

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alfonso Soriano RF
Carlos Beltran DH
Yangervis Solarte 3B
Brian Roberts 2B
John Ryan Murphy C

Never mind the World Cup (or the U.S. Open or the NBA Finals):

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Brice Portolano]

Cut artwork by Thomas Allen.

Just cause…

While some of us were sleeping, Masahiro Tanaka was busy puttin’ heads to bed out in Seattle. Only a 2-run home run by Robbie Cano in the 9th spoiled a shutout.

“Nobody’s perfect,” Jeter said after the game. “But he expects perfection.”

Tanaka went the distance anyhow, escaping a jam in the 8th, and then striking out the last two batters of the game after Cano’s homer in the 9th.  Mark Teixeira’s 3-run home run was the big hit for the Yanks.

Final Score: Yanks 4, Mariners 2. 

[Photo Credit: Luigi Ghirri]

Our boy Tanaka goes tonight.

Brett Gardner LF
Derek Jeter SS
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Carlos Beltran DH
Brian McCann C
Yangervis Solarte 3B
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Brian Roberts 2B

Never mind the late start:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Credit: Jake Stangel]

Who do you think you are?

[Photo Credit: Alfred Stieglitz]

Sour cream ice cream with strawberries and brown sugar? Heck yeah.

“Blackwell’s Island” by Edward Hopper (1928)

Starting tomorrow and running through August 1, my pal Kate Joyce has a show of her photographs at the Rick Wester Fine Art gallery. Don’t sleep.

From a 1976 interview with Curtis Mayfield posted over at Soul Music (found via Lonform):

DN: In recent times, you’ve been working in the studios, producing yourself and other people and you haven’t been out on the road. How do you know at what point you can stop driving yourself, working hard?

CM: Well, I guess when you’ve got your trophies, your little awards they become like in the past tense. To me, I don’t feel that I’m a great success – although I’m sure on the other side, people look on me as having achieved many, many things. I guess people feel that based on what I’ve done in the past, I’m a success. I’m very proud of that and yet, because of my outlook on things and how I take in my rewards – I guess I’ll never feel that I’m a great, great success – it takes a lot of ego and playing a role that I’m not. I like the idea of having money, just living a bit better – it’s easier to do that. I’m very happy that I’m in an area that people turn their heads and listen, that I’ve got respect and naturally, I feel proud of myself.

And then, every couple of years, when you get the money in, you wonder if you’re winning or losing. It’s possible for it to become a burden – you have to insure it, support it, and then with the success comes sacrifice – the non-privacy – I cherish the time I can get away from it all.

Then, there’s your personal life that’s very important. I’m just happy that I’m here, and I see other areas where I can still prove my versatile and creative ability – I hope to achieve the best I can.

I wouldn’t mind owning 300 million dollars! But you never want to reach the peak because after all, when you’ve gone all the way up, the only way to go is down.

[Photo Via: The Chicago Sun-Times]

Our boys limp into Safeco Field tonight.

Never mind the self-pity:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Photo Via: USA Today]

Sad news being reported via Twitter. Bob Welch is dead at 57.

[Photo Via Getty Images]

I really enjoyed the discussion of digital vs. film from this interview with William Friedkin over at The Dissolve:

The Dissolve: It doesn’t sound like you’re especially nostalgic for celluloid.

Friedkin: Not at all. To me, it’s like old 78 rpm records vs. CDs. There’s no noise. When you listen to a CD, you’re listening to a pure sound, the way it was recorded. It’s still a recording; it isn’t the singer live in your living room, but it’s damn good. The old 78s and even the 33 1/3s and 45s always got scratched up. Eventually, they’d wear out. But they don’t know what the end tag on digital is. Nobody knows. It’s too new. But they’re beautiful. This is the best print ever made of Sorcerer.

The Dissolve: People have these endless debates about how vinyl sounds “warmer” than CDs, and then some musicians counter that what people call “warmth” is just low-end distortion. It has a certain cozy familiarity, but that doesn’t mean it’s accurate to the original recording.

Friedkin: Well, that’s how I feel about 35s. Look, there’s not going to be any more production of 35mm. There will only be the prints that still exist and are playable. Deluxe is out of business, and Technicolor is out of the 35 business. They’re done. That’s done. It was replaced by a great medium. They didn’t put junk out instead; they have improved the experience. An audience today knows when a print has got dirt and scratches. Who in the hell misses that? That wasn’t built in. It was a flaw of the process.

The Dissolve: I could give you the names of some people who miss it if you like.

Friedkin: There’s a lot of people, like Christopher Nolan—the only way to make a film is on 35? I just don’t buy that at all. He can’t release his films in 35mm. He can shoot 35mm, and then he has to transfer to digital to get it distributed. So you can be nostalgic and this and that, but it’s a waste of time.

[Photo Via: The Smithsonian]

Phone is ringin’, Oh my God.

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alfonso Soriano RF
Yangervis Solarte 3B
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran DH
Ichiro Suzuki LF
Brendan Ryan 2B

Never mind the tributes:

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Painting by Edward Hopper]

Adam Hughes.

Domestic Bliss.

[Photo Credit: National Geographic via This Isn’t Happiness]

The Wife and I sat on a bench in Union Square on Saturday evening and watched the world go by. A group of kids performed acrobatics on the grass not far away. Here’s a shot of one of those dudes diving through a hoop. He made it look easy when it is anything but.

This looks promising. 

You know the old joke between the Sadist and the Masochist?

Masochist says, “Beat me, beat me.” Sadist says…”No.”

Yanks had the bases loaded, nobody out in the second inning against James Shields, and didn’t score a run. There were more chances but I won’t go into it. The Royals had a couple of hits drop in the next inning, scored twice, and that would be enough to win, 2-1.

I’ve been patient with this team so far this season. Yesterday, I yelled. The Wife had to tell me to pipe down. I was going to tell her that I’d pipe down when the Yanks started scoring some fuggin’ runs, but then I thought better of it.

[Photo Via: The Retrologist]