Now this lady knows how to roll with style. The red flag is the icing on the gravy.

From the New Yorker…

Mindrelic – Manhattan in motion from Mindrelic on Vimeo.

I passed by Loeser’s on the way to the subway this morning.

I just had to take a picture and share it with you:

Nothing like thoughts of a knish wish at 7:15 in the morning, eh?

Wish you wuz here.

Well, not entirely clear blue skies but the sun is out and what a sight for sore eyes.

I’m taking the wife for a picnic.

Back for more angst tonight.

[Photo Credit Lariverola by four.one.five]

Nicholas Dawidoff profiles Paul Simon in the latest issue of Rolling Stone. The piece is not available on-line but here are a couple of cherce bits:

“One day not long ago, Donald Fagen, of Steely Dan, who has admired Simon’s work for decades but knows him only slightly, offered up a spontaneous theory of Simon’s childhood. ‘There’s a certain kind of New York Jew,’ Fagan began, “almost a stereotype, really, to whom music and baseball are very important. I think it has to do with the parents. The parents are either immigrants or first-generation Americans who felt like outsiders, and assimilation was the key thought–they gravitated to black music and baseball looking for an alternative culture. My parents forced me to get a crew cut; they wanted me to be an astronaut. I wouldn’t be surprised if all that’s true in Paul’s case.”

Baseball and black music? I can relate.

And this:

“One day when I am visiting Simon at the Brill Building, we go off to throw a baseball. Simon picks a guitar with his right hand, but on a baseball field, he goes the other way. ‘That’s something I remember about my father,’ he tells me. “I was five or six and we were having a catch. He got me a glove. A righty glove. I’d take it off to throw it back. He’d say, ‘No, no. We do it this way.’ Eventually he came into the house and told my mother, ‘Belle, we got a lefty!’ There’s incredible pleasure in throwing a ball. Having a catch with your dad is having a conversation. As you throw the ball back and forth it’s heavenly.”

I don’t have any fond memories of having a catch with my father–those were uncomfortable moments, filled with impatience, anger, and tears–but I loved having a catch with my younger brother (still do though I can’t remember the last time we had one). There is an intimate connection when you are having a good catch that is unspoken but powerful. The rhythm is easy, contemplative and soothing.

[Photo Credit: Bruce Davidson]

Click here for a photo gallery of the one and only Gordon Parks.

My man Brad passed along this coolness–Project Neon: A Digital Guide to New York’s Neon Signs (by Kirsten Hively).

Welcome to the new-look Bronx Banter, brought to you by Laura Chambliss and Ken Arneson. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them and I can’t thank them enough for their talent and dedication.

As you can see, we are now designed more like a magazine or newspaper so you can search out your favorite subjects and dig through the archives with ease. I have just begun to go through and tag the entire Bronx Banter archives but there is enough to get started (this will be a work-in-progress with the hope that eventually every Banter post will be categorized and filed).

Nine recent posts will appear at the top of the page in the photo gallery but the regular features like  Beat of the Day and Taster’s Cherce, will have their own spot.  You can also access all of the most recent posts on the sidebar at the right hand side of the page.

So dig in and have at it. As always, we’re thrilled to have you.

[Photograph by Ruth Orkin]

Papers on the subway this morning…

On the subway this morning…A shirty voice on the loud speaker. “Attention passengers. Please do not leave…Your Arm…Your Leg…or…Your Bag…in the door. Step all-the-way into the car so we don’t delay the train behind us.”

And then, as cold as ice: “Thank You and Have a Nice Day.”

Ah, some good, old fashioned New York irritation to greet the day.

[Picture by Edi Weitz]

Woman outside of Applebee’s this morning watching the Royal Wedding.

New York:  We Get the Money All Day Every Day.

[Photo Credit: Utopia Archive]

Dig this cool ass photo gallery of old New York over at Neat Stuff.

I went to Citifield yesterday. Dig these two on line at Shake Shack…

I was there with my two cousins and the wife. We had a great time (Shake Shack, Mets Win, Shake Shack)…

That’s us singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

A photo gallery of New York in the ’70s from Animal New York.

Oh, yeah, and the Yanks take on the Texas Rangers. First time this season, first time since losing to the Rangers last October in the ALCS.

Cliff has the preview. We make the noise.

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

Look what I ran across again in Midtown yesterday? The Bronx Banter Scoretruck. I stopped to take a picture and the driver leaned out of the window and said, “You got to see the other side, it’s got the city on it an’ everything.”

But the light changed I didn’t have time. I said, “I want to see you guys update this for 2011!”

“Me too, bro! We’re going all the way.”

One day, I’ll catch the flip side of the truck. Good ol’ scoretruck.

The other night I was in a cab with a chatty Russian driver from Brooklyn, a fat guy with a baby face.

He didn’t shut up the entire time which was okay with me. When he got to my apartment building he turned to me and said, “My father had four rules to life. One, whatever you do, try your best everyday. Some days won’t work out–hell, some days I can hardly leave my house–but try your best. Number two, don’t pay attention to what other people say because who cares? So, there you have it.”

“What about the other two?” I said.

“Ah, I forget. I have it written down somewhere.” He shrugged.  “What counts is this: Do your best everyday, disregard what they say.””

[Photo Credit: Wired.com]

And suddenly it is warm in New York, at least for a minute.

Skirts, skirts, where are all the ice cream skirts?

Look what I found in the BX this morning…

How about a little Talking Heads to get us going today?