Alabama 103 St. John's 96 at Madison Square Garden

 

I got "sticker shock" when I saw that Knicks and Rangers tickets were over $200 for seats in the 200 level. Someone has to pay for the multi-million dollar salaries that the players make.  We decided to get tickets for the St. John's Red Storm, who were nationally ranked last season.

It was a close game, but the Crimson Tide of Alabama held on for a 103-96 victory.

Game Recap

For Joni Mitchell's 82nd Birthday - Big Yellow Taxi

 

Bob Dylan is Awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of Music - Concert to Honor Him

 

This is not bad for someone who dropped out of the University of Minnesota.  Right now, he is in Europe so he can not come right now to accept his award.  I doubt if he will do so in the future since he did not attend the December 2016 Nobel Prize ceremony.  Dylan joins a distinguished roster of Berklee honorary doctorate recipients that includes Duke Ellington (the first, in 1971), Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones ’51, Joni Mitchell, B.B. King, Ringo Starr, Tito Puente, Roberta Flack, Juan Luis Guerra ’82, A. R. Rahman, and Loretta Lynn, among others.

There will be a concert tonight at 8 PM honoring Dylan featuring guest artists Tim O'Brien, Lucy Kaplansky, Tony Trischka, Annie Raines, Matt Rollings, Bruce Molsky, Farayi Malek, Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin, Larry Watson, Berklee Faculty Big Band led by Peter Kenagy, Tom Piazza, and more.

It can be accessed at https://vimeo.com/showcase/bpc?event=5497499&video=1133543724

It will likely be archived at https://vimeo.com/showcase/bpc

Voice Your Choice by the Radiants - Perfect Oldie for Election Day

 

Voice Your Choice by the Radiants only reached #51 on the Billboard chart in early 1965.  I vaguely remember hearing Murray the K playing it on WOR-FM when he asked listeners to vote for their favorite record.

I will go to the polls a  little later today to voice my choice for mayor and other city officials.  I will not discuss my choices here as I hate politics.

Now The Hot Stove League Begins

I watched the World Series as a neutral observer.  Now that it is over, the "Hot Stove League" begins in earnest.  For readers who are not baseball fans, this is rumors and speculations about player moves in the offseason.

There is "preseason" as publications such as The Athletic and numerous websites have already speculated on player moves.  This includes professional journalists and ordinary fans.  The questions are:

• Will top free agents sign with their current teams or elsewhere?  What will be their salaries and the length of the contract?  I am especially concerned about Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz.
• What will happen to players who are eligible for arbitration?
• What players will be non-tendered and become free agents?
• What trades will be made?  Will each team benefit by the trade or will the transaction be a salary dump?

Also, awards such as the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young will be announced in the weeks to come.

Stay tuned.

 

Treat from Amazon - Bob Dylan - Through the Open Window - The Bootleg Series Vol. 18 1956-1963

 

Back in the day, I would run to the nearest record store to buy the Bob Dylan album on the day of its release.  Now I just have to wait for the Amazon deliveryman.  My package arrived about 12 noon before any of the trick-or-treaters. They will come after school.

This 8-CD set provides never-before-released recordings from Dylan's formative years.  It includes concert performances, uncirculated studio outtakes, and rarities of Dylan's performances in friends' apartments.

It also includes a book with photographs and text detailing Dylan's early recordings.

Instead of giving a long journal entry about this, I will refer my readers to Dylan scholar Ray Padgett's track-by-track guide to the set.

I received this on Halloween, but for me, it would have been more appropriate to receive it on Chanukkah, since I could listen to one CD per day for the 8 days of the festival.

For Halloween - The Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Pickett

 

Last Halloween, only one group of kids came to my door.  I bought a package of candy for them.  If the kids don't come, Lee and I will have to eat the candy.