FIND | Roll-up backgammon takes the game on the road
This roll-up backgammon set, available from mattsinger.com, caught my eye today. Though I can't admit to be being very good at it, I love the game of backgammon. We spent a lot of Sundays and a lot of very late weeknights in Canton preoccupied by this ancient game. Mrs. F., bless her, is no less an enthusiast. Her skills were honed during a high school summer in Greece and, as a result of good training, she enjoys cleaning my clock when we play. We have a beautiful burlwood set at home, a prize she gave me the first summer we spent together ...
COCKTAILS | The Seelbach salutes a venerable Louisville hotel
The Seelbach, the signature cocktail of the eponymous Lousiville hotel. In our household, your writer is normally responsible for selecting a cocktail recipe and bartending. The other night, however, the tables turned and Mrs. F. did the honors. She selected the Seelbach, a bourbon and champagne cocktail that relies on bitters. Named for the famed hotel in Louisville, where Fitzgerald is purported to spent some time while writing "The Great Gatsby," the drink was concocted before the dark hours of Prohibition, likely around 1917. When the shadow of the 18th Amendment descended over the land, the recipe was lost and was not ...
GREAT HOUSES | Darwin Martin House, a Wrightsian masterpiece
The Darwin Martin House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is one of Buffalo's many architectural treasures. During a recent sojourn in Buffalo, Mrs. F and I did something we should have done ages ago. We visited the Darwin D. Martin House, located just a few blocks from where we were married on Jewett Parkway in the city's Parkside neighborhood. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built between 1903 and 1905, the Martin house complex includes a carriage house, a conservatory, and two residences: the Martin House and the Barton House. Commissioned by Darwin D. Martin, an executive of the Larkin Soap ...
GEAR | Old Moriarty hat has enduring Olympic spirit
This Moriarty-style hat was made for the Lake Placid games. In 10 days the games of the XXI Winter Olympiad will begin in Vancouver. As we are every four years, Mrs. F. and I anxious for their arrival. While we call the wilds of the suburban jungle home, our hearts are still anchor in Lake Placid, the only city to host the Winter Games twice. As longtime readers know, I've got a penchant for relics from Lake Placid's Olympiads and this old Moriarty-style hat is the latest acquisition in my collection. Moriarty, of course, was a Stowe, Vermont institution. Founded in ...
BOOKS | A trio of Auchincloss titles
Three of Louis Auchincloss' novels: "World of Profit," "Portrait in Brownstone" and "The Embezzler." The death last Tuesday of Louis Auchincloss, the patrician chronicler and critic of Old New York, was deservedly overshadowed by the J.D. Salinger's passing. Auchincloss, who worked by day as an estate attorney, while popular, is not being taught in very many college English courses. Still, there's good stuff in his oeuvre. My grandmother was a fan, apparently, as these three first-editions were part of her library. "Portrait in Brownstone," published in 1962, deals with what the Times called the "social mountaineering ... of a prosperous Fifty-third ...
Recommended
FIND| Old reliable rotary goes cellular
Spark Fun offers old rotary phones restored for service as cell phones. I’ve mused before about the virtues of the standard, black rotary phone....
BRIEFING | Crisis at Pegu Club, the Normandie sails again and pay walls
Good morning. It’s been ages since I put together a briefing, and I’m trying to get back in the habit. Culture • Mario Pulice, creative...
FIND | Celebrate your literary heritage, casually
This shirt from Out of Print celebrates Fitzgerald’s “Tales of the Jazz Age.” “Atlas Shrugged.” “Moby Dick.”...
COCKTAILS | Transport your Meyer lemons in a Sidecar
Meyer lemons deliver an excellent sidecar. Meyer lemons, a cross between Mandarin oranges and lemons, were brought to the United States from China in 1908...
TASTES | Citrus salad warms winter dinners
This citrus salad, which combines orange, blood orange and grapefruit offers a taste of warmer weather in the dark hours of winter. As I’ve written...
More Clips
- CLIP | ‘Blues are Brewin’,’ 1947
- CLIP| ‘So What,’ circa 1959
- CLIP| Aboard Holland-America’s S.S. Rotterdam, 1960s
- CLIP| Bill Evans Trio performs ‘M.A.S.H.’ theme, 1979
- TRAILER| ‘Taking of Pelham One Two Three,’ 1974
- CLIP| Miles Davis interviewed, 1982
- CLIP| Lake Champlain Bridge demolished
- CLIP| The White House at Christmas
- CLIP| ‘Last Christmas,’ a tacky holiday staple, 1984
- CLIP| Opening of the Crown Point Bridge, 1929
EJForbes.com on Twitter
- Wishing I were watching Bert Stern's "Jazz on a Summer's Day," the classic documentary on the '58 Newport Jazz ... ? http://blip.fm/~kdkom
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