Guys and Dolls was the story of a bunch of New York characters—-gangsters and gamblers and the babes who hung out with them, including Adelaide, based on the stories of Damon Runyon in the ’20’s and ’30’s. The first production was on Broadway in 1950. Later, in 1955, there was a movie with, believe it or not, Marlon Brando singing and dancing, along with Frank Sinatra. There were 14 marvelous songs by Frank Loesser.
This one, “The Oldest Established,” is performed early in the first act featuring Nathan, Nicely, Benny and the guys trying to organize a crap game. It’s going to be in the Biltmore Garage, because the back of the police station and the local school were out. But they needed to pay $1,000.00 for the venue.
“If we only had a lousy little grand, we would be a millionaire.”
The Digital Camera World Magazine calls this award winning image “A street masterpiece that captures the magic of New York.”
“Iconic street photography: the image Puerto Rican Day Parade, Manhattan, New York City 1963 by Joel Meyerowitz highlights the mastery of timing, color, and candid composition.”
“The image “Puerto Rican Day Parade, Manhattan, New York City 1963″ speaks to perception, timing, and confidence – qualities that have defined great street photography since its earliest days.
“I used the parades as a way to overcome my shyness. Because the people in the crowd were absorbed by the passing show in the street, I could slip in under their gaze like a plane flying too low to be picked up on radar,” Meyerowitz remembers. “They were about the heat of the moment.”
Meyerowitz’s photo captures the spirit of this exuberant parade.. Amid the parade’s bustle, he remained invisible – responding instinctively to what he describes as a flood of impressions.
He has won fame over the years for his wonderful color works.
Paul Goldfinger, Editor, Blogfinger.net:
Someone might look at this award winning photo and think of it as merely a snapshot. But experienced critics at Leica knowingly find that there is a great deal more at play here.
Digital Camera World says, “The photograph shows four impeccably dressed women gathered in a Fifth Avenue doorway, touching up their makeup. It’s a scene overflowing with life, color, and the unspoken choreography of the street – the kind Meyerowitz has spent a lifetime mastering.”
I like street photography, and this image speaks to me….my photo years were formed in the sixities in New York, so I can relate to this winning image, and you can see that this award is about much more than just a street scene. My preference is for black and white, but I do enjoy this famous photograph, with an award being given over 60 years later.
I’m not a fan of photograph awards because there are so many varieties of photographic art, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Here is one of my color photos from around 1980. It won an international award and was published. It is of school kids in Guadalajara
Portrait of Adrien Brody. Still movie image by Paul Goldfinger. Click once to enlarge. I believe this is from his wonderful movie about an immigrant experience—The Brutalist.
Soundtrack from Brody’s amazing movie The Pianist: Nocturne in C Sharp Minor
Eileen’s Beef Stew. Ocean Grove, NJ. Paul Goldfinger photo
By Eileen Goldfinger, Food Editor @Blogfinger
2 1/2 pounds chuck roast, trimmed of fat, cut into 2″ cubes
10 cipollini onions, peeled
4 carrots, peeled (2 diced, 2 cut into 2″ rounds)
2 russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2″ pieces
2 yellow onions. diced
1/2 pound green beans, trimmed
3 stalks celery, diced
1 cup fresh green peas (frozen can be substituted)
4 cloves garlic, minced
6 large mushrooms, thickly sliced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup red burgundy wine
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons margarine
searing flour, as needed
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
In a 5 quart Dutch oven, heat 1/4 cup of oil on medium. Remove moisture from meat with a paper towel and lightly sprinkle cubes with searing flour; place meat in oil and brown on all sides. Do this in small batches and set meat aside as they brown.
Add diced carrots, celery and yellow onions to the Dutch oven and cook until they soften and brown, approximately 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook 3 minutes. Add wine, stout, beef broth, thyme, tomato paste, black pepper, salt and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and stir.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add meat to pot and simmer covered for 1 hour. Stir occasionally.
While the meat and sauce are simmering, heat margarine and 2 tablespoons of oil on medium in a large nonstick fry pan. Add the 2″ pieces of carrot, potatoes, cipollini onions, tomatoes, and green beans; and sauté until the vegetables turn a little brown, approximately 30 minutes.
Add the browned vegetables to the meat and sauce after the meat has cooked for 1 hour.
* For the best flavor prepare the stew to this point a day or two prior to serving.
Reheat the stew on medium-low until the sauce begins to simmer. Add the green peas and mushrooms. Stir and cook for 1 hour. Taste to adjust for flavoring.
Marian McPartland, jazz pianist, died at the age of 95. She was born in Britain and came to New York in the 1940’s as a young musician. Critics said that she had three strikes against her: she was British, white, and a woman. Upon hearing her play, some said, “You sound just like a man.”
She eventually became known among the underground 1950’s jazz community in New York and she got to know all the greats in the jazz world. She married one of them— a jazz cornetist, Jimmy McPartland.
In the 1960’s, jazz lost ground as the rock and roll invasion began. In addition to teaching at the college level, she continued to perform and to work as a disc jockey . She soon developed the idea of an interview show coupled with live performances. In 1979 she began her famous NPR show “Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz.” I listened to that show often. It was wonderful. She would bring on musicians—mostly piano players—discuss jazz theory and music–and then she and her guest would improvise solos and duets.
We heard her play live a few times, including once in a small theatre in Southhampton, New York. She was so warm and friendly, and her playing was melodic and interesting.
Below is an NPR link about her sent to us by Lee Morgan of Ocean Grove who emailed, ” Just read that you are going to do a piece on Marian. Curiously, I had recently bookmarked an NPR item on her. (See link below). I loved to listen to her on Piano Jazz.”
Birdland was a fabled jazz club in mid-town Manhattan where my friends and I often went. We didn’t see her there, but here is Marian McPartland playing that jazz favorite:” Lullaby of Birdland.” Following that is a beautiful ballad called “Blackberry Winter,” from her album “Twilight World.” Grab a tissue, it’s about a cold snap bringing spring to an unexpected halt.
Feb 8, 2026. Half -time light show; quick but nice. All photos by Paul Goldfinger from the TV screen
Bad Bunny at half time. Performing in Spanish. Blogfinger.net
The only song in English. Lady Ga-Ga was terrific. But she stuck out like a contrivance to satisfy English speakers..
The sign says, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love”. Really? ˙ He also said, “Gd bless America”
The music was almost totally in Spanish. I didn’t like the rap songs. I did like the Spanish language song and dance numbers, but there was no effort to reach out to Americans at 1/2 time–inappropriate! And they were waving flags of Latin American nations.
FOOTBALL: I only saw half, and that first half was boring. I am not a NFL fan. I saw two guys at Wegmans yesterday. They were discussing the forthcoming game. I went up to them and said ,”I am the only American male who doesn’t know who is playing on Sunday!” They laughed. One said that he liked Pittsburgh and probably wouldn’t watch the game.
Small-town French hotel. It was on the bank of a windy mini-river, and across the little bridge was a café where they had wonderful coffee and home-made strawberry preserves. The owner gave Eileen his recipe. Paul Goldfinger photo. This was a Tri-X image (film) obtained with a Leica 35 mm camera.
Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor@Blogfinger.net. 2020
This positive image was obtained by scanning a negative from years ago. The scanner is designed just for this purpose, and all those who have negatives that were never printed can still work with them in the digital age. The negative became a digital file and now is “printed” on Blogfinger. It can also be printed on paper by using a home printer or sending to a professional processor such as Mpix.
In the darkroom, it was difficult to edit photographs by changing chemicals. It sometimes took hours for one print meticulously done. Digital has changed all that.
Photography is fully digital now, but there are enthusiasts who still shoot film and who work in the darkroom. You can still buy fine used film cameras such as Leicas and Hasseblads and film for those cameras.
But the digital age will make photography better than ever before, and the latest digital cameras are extraordinary. Ansel Adams said that he wished he were young again to enjoy digital photography.
As good as phone photography has become, most professionals and advanced amateurs will buy and use fine cameras and lenses.
This could be a fantasy theme song for those who are sheltering in place.
