Monday, December 31, 2007

Today's Radio log

This radio enthuisast does not listen to just one station.  Here is waht I listened to today:

WCBS-FM, 6:30-7:00 AM, 10:45 - 11:00 AM, 5:00 - 5:30 PM

WFUV-HD1 - 7:00 - 7:30 AM

WBGO - 7:30 - 8:15 AM

WABC - 8:15 - 8:45 AM - Mark Simone was sitting in for Imus

WFUV-HD2 - 2:00 - 2:45 (at this time HD1 was broadcasting Fordham basketball)

WQCD - 9:00 - 9:15 AM

WAXQ-HD1 12 noon - 12:15 (Daily Beatles feature)

WKTU-HD2 1:00 - 1:30 PM (country music)

WAXQ-HD2 1:30 - 2:00 (deep tracks)

Breakfast with the Beatles -7:30 PM - (on the internet)

Sunday, December 30, 2007

NJIT made the New York Times

Ok Roz and Galen, I know you are lurking out there  Anyway in today's New York Times there was an article titled "Have Team Will Travel, Losing Badly". http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/sports/ncaabasketball/30bluehose.html?_r=1&ex=1356670800&en=28acef94e4d54ebc&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

It is about  the basektball team of Presbyterian College in South Carolina which has made the transition to Divison I and now has a record of 1-15.  I am reading through the article and there is a reference to the NJIT basketball team in a similar predicament.

Robert Altenkirch, president of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, says he is glad to have moved up. His team is 0-13 in its second year in Division I, but he said it would all be worth it. In an e-mail message, Altenkirch wrote, “The decision was made in fall 2002 to begin the transition process to Division I so we could align athletically with our academic peers and gain national visibility at the same time, which you can’t do in Division II.”

As bleak as it seems for N.J.I.T.’s season, there is no better example of the rewards that the transition holds than the 4,800-student Belmont University in Nashville, which started playing 11 years ago in Division I. On the court, Belmont has earned two straight bids to the N.C.A.A. tournament. Off the court, its enrollment has grown 61 percent in seven years, and its academic standards have risen as well; the university’s president, Bob Fisher, cites sports as a factor.

Will the NJIT basketball team make it to the big dance in the years to come?  If Belmont University can do it, so can we!

Saw some rare Beatles footage today

We took our annual trip to the Paley Center for Media (http://paleycenter.org) formerly know as the Museum of Television and Radio.  Visitors can either go to the library and pick TV shows to watch ot view the various screenings offered by the center.  The schedule offered "What's Happening! The Beatles in the USA" produced by the Maysles brothers.  I had never seen this footage of the Beatles' first visit to the United States in 1964.  The late New York Disc Jockey Murray the K who called himself the Fifth Beatle appears throughout the film.  There were scenes of the Beatles train ride from NYC to Washington, D.C.  We also so a documentary about the Funny Women of Television featuring Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Mary Tyler Moore, and Candice Bergen among others.  Our last stop was the Ralph Guild Radio Listening Room where I heard a documentary about Frank Sinatra hosted by William B. Williams on WNEW (AM) in 1978.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

College Basketball at Madison Square Garden

Every Christmas week there is a college basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden.  Today's games:

Marist 73 Hofstra 67

Virginia Tech 54 St. Johns 48

The crowd was very disappointing considering that three of the four schools were from the New York Metropolitan area.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

The Adventures of Superman

Faster than a speeding bullet

More power than a locomotive

Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound

Look, up in the sky, is it a bird, is it a plane?  It's Superman!

For the second day in a row we looked into my collection of VHS tapes recorded in the 80s and 90s and found 3 Superman tapes.  This was the TV show from the 1950s starring George Reeves.  We viewed two shows we recorded about 10 years ago from a TVLand marathon.  Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen are so dumb.  They can't figure out that Clark Kent is Superman

Great Caesar's Ghost!

 

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Car 54 Where Are You/Mister Ed

I always enjoyed comedy TV of the early 1960s.  Today I went into my VHS tape storage area and pulled out a couple of my favorites.

Car 54 Where Are You - this show featured the antics of Patrolman Gunther Toody and Francis Muldoon of the 53rd precinct in the Bronx.  Back in the mid 1980s when the show was re-run on Nick at Night's TVLand I taped every episode that ran on the show's run in 1961-3.  Most people remember the show for it's theme.

There's a holup in the Bronx

Brooklyn's broken out in fights

There's a traffic jam in Harlem that's backed up to Jackson Heights

There's a scout troop short a child

Krushchev'e due at Idlewild

Car 54 Where are You?

Sometime in the 90's Karen taped Mister Ed, the show about a talking horse.  When Lee was a small child, he thought all horses talked.  We all had a lot of fun watching it.  It seems that TVLand has moved forward in time.  They no longer play re-runs of 50s and 60s show but they play most 80s shows.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Since almost everything is closed on Christmas Day we walked over to the local multiplex and saw National Treasure Book of Secrets starring Nicholas Cage.  No movie review this time.

Monday, December 24, 2007

The Jewish Museum on Christmas Eve

Today we took a trip to the Jewish Museum on 92nd Street and 5th Avenue.  Karen and Lee had been there before but not I.  There were 3 special exhibitions:

From The New Yorker to Shrek:  The Art of William Steig - this Jewish artist died in 2003 at the age of 96

Issac Bashevis Singer and the Lower East Side: Photographs by Bruce Davidson.  This Nobel Prize winning author lived from 1904-1991

Camille Pissaro: Impressions of City & Country - He was the only Jewish impressionist  artist.

It's nice to do something a little different for a change.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

It was a rainy and dreary day today so it was off to the multiplex.  Lee picked Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.  This was a parody of biopics of rock stars.  The Dewey Cox character greatly resembled Lee's favorite, Johhny Cash.  He married young and had several children and then feel in love with another musician who was a dead ringer for June Carter.  The Dewey Cox character later in the movie "became" Bob Dylan.  That segment was filmed in black and white as a take off on Don't Look Back.  There was also a scene with Dewey and the Beatles with the Maharishi in India doing the transcendental meditation thing. Other rock stars that were referenced in the film included Jerry Lewis Lewis, Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, the Temptations and the Partridge Family.  Lyle Lovett, Jackson Browne, Jewel and Eddie Vedder actually appeared.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Slow Day Today

We didn't do very much today.  We just took a walk around Alley Pond Park in eastern Queens and stopped off in Dunkin Donuts.  I went to the public library and took out a biography of the late TV anchor Peter Jennings.  Saturday Night Oldies has a full four hour show.  Its number 1 enthusiast Alan B is a good son and is visiting his mother tonight for her birthday.

Friday, December 21, 2007

11 Days Away From Work

One advantage of working for a university is that you don't have to work from Christmas to New Years.  Today the boss let everyone go home early.  All faculty and staff were invited to attend the Womans Basketball game against Wagner College.  Din, how could I go wrong when it was absolutely free.  NJIT let a 14 point lead evaporate but recovered at beat Wagner 55-54.  The women are 2-7 when the men have lost all 13 games.  No lunacy or spreadsheets until January 2!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Holiday Party Today

Today most of the library staff had our holiday party at a restaurant in Newark called  Seabra Rodizio. I had been there several times before in the years that I worked at NJIT.  It is a good restaurant if you like meat.  Here is a review of it from the New York Times.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE4DB163AF933A05752C1A961958260

Two more days to go before the break

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Memorial Service for Veronica Calderhead

In early November I reported the untimely passing of my  Rutgers colleague Veronica Calderhead.  Today I went to a memorial service for her at the Dana Library where she worked for 14 years.  There were tributes from her husband, Ka-Neng Au the Acting Director of the Dana Library, Marianne Gaunt, Natalie Borisovets, Lynn Mullins, and several teaching faculty.  Members of the audience were also invited to make statements.  I didn’t realize that she was into picassiette, a French mosaic art form.  Some of her art work was on display.

 

I always called Veronica when I had problems coping with the lunacy at my situation.  She always understood my difficulties with career issues.  It was very unfortunate that lines of communication between the NJIT and Dana libraries were so strained even though we are only two city blocks away.  She did speak a few times at my METRO Science Librarians Group.  She will be sorely missed by her friends, family, and colleagues.

Lee wanted the last game at Shea Stadium

We let Lee make the choice of 7 - Pack tickets for the Mets

1.  Family Pack including a game against the Yankees

2. Goodbye Shea Pack - No Yankee game but includes the last regular game to be played at Shea Stadium

Lee picked the Goodbye Shea Pack.  I think after being a Met fan since 1962, I disserve to see the last game to be played at Shea.  I guess next September I will have a lengthy entry on Shea Stadium

Sunday, December 16, 2007

I am Legend

The weather was pretty lousy today.  There was mixed preciptation overnight creating slushy roads and sidewalks.  I had to take a short ride over to a paint store to buy stuff for the paint job of the kitchen.  The apartment is really a mess since Karen had to take everything out of the cabinets.

In the afternoon we walked over to the multiplex and saw I am Legend with Will Smith.  I thought the story line was a little too far fetched.  It did bring in $76.5 in ticket sales this weekend.

Getting back to Mets tickets.  For years the upper deck tickets were $1.30.  Back in those days Mickey Mantle mad $100,000 per years.  Somebody has to pay the players' salaries and for the new stadium

Saturday, December 15, 2007

New York Met Tickets for 2008 already

Today I recieved a letter from the New York Mets ticket office offering 7 packs for 2008.  There are several packages available, but I have to pick from one of two:

Family Pack - this includes Saturday June 28th vs and Yankees and Saturday September 27th (penultimate game at Shea Stadium)

"Shea Goodbye" Pack - no Yankee game but includes September 28th the last game at Shea Stadium.  It will likely be very difficult to buy a single ticket for that last game.

After 45 years it will be very hard to say goodbye to Shea Stadium.  I had its day and it will be time to move on to Citifield just adjacent to it.  I will be crying when I see the wrecking back hit Shea,

There is some symmetry in this world.  I actually attended the second game played at Shea in 1964.  I remember my friends and I seeing our Spanish teacher on the subway platform on the way to the game.  The next Monday we discussed the game in Spanish.  So I guess it would make sense for me to see the second to last game at Shea.

I am glad that Saturday Night Oldies is on for a full 4 hours tonight.

 

I guess nobody would want to read about Karen and I fixing up our kitchen.  We were going to go to the Hofstra basketball game today, but we had to stay home while the painter was working in the kitchen.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Four phone calls in 30 minutes - unusual for me

Just as Jeopardy ended at 7:30

#1 - Radio enthusiast Jon from Maryland called to catch up on things.  I originally met Jon on Prodigy circa 1995.  I hooked up with him a few weeks ago in Manhattan.

#2 - Radio enthusiast Vic called from Florida.  I tried to phone him from the radio gathering two weeks ago, but his phone number changed.  Vic goes back to the Prodigy days around 1995.

#3 - Radio ethusiast Herb from Queens.  He goes  back to 1978 and was best man at my wedding in 1983.  He must be the only person on the face of the earth who does not own a computer.

#4 - Mom - I've known her since 1949.  I was glad to hear that she got over her cold

I haven't heard yet this night from radio enthusiast Alan.  He is invited to call as long as he doesn't talk about the "next event"

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Cate Blanchett receives Golden Globe Nomination

I'm working late tonight at the NJIT Library (big yawn).  Due to the weather I was told that I may leave at 7 PM instead of 8 PM (whopee!)  Anyway I heard that Cate Blanchett received a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress in her portrayal of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There.  Will she receive an Academy Award nomination?

Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in the movie I'm Not There.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Some thoughts at the End of the Semester

Today was the last day of classes at NJIT, my 31st semester there (plus summer sessions).  The university wide Holiday party was also today.  I spent part of the time sitting with Joe K of the Chemical Engineering Department and the rest of the time with my librarian colleagues.  I spent some time today working on publicizing the New Jersey Chemistry Olympics which will take place next May.  The one good thing about this semester is that we had a temporary librarian working the bulk of the time at the so called reference desk. Most of the time we refer students to the Circulation Desk for the stapler. The other times we sit there like a scarecrow. After all of these years there, it is a real drag sitting there and answering the same old questions.  The Beanie Boy just never gave me a chance to advance or even spread my wings laterally.  I think I've done some good work there, but I was never rewarded with a promotion.  As I was leaving one of the students from my Freshman Seminar class handed in the one assignment I gave them for the semester.  I asked them to submit a blog or just a diary with their reflections on their first semester at NJIT.  As of now only 9 of the 22 students submitted this assignment.  I gave them something that I thought they would enjoy doing, but they just didn't want to bother.  This is the 12th time I've taught Freshman seminar as a way to do something away from the library managment, but this too has become a drag. If students fail to do their assignments in more important courses, they will pay the consequences. To quote the Mothers of Invention, "I'm only in it for the Money."

                                           

                                   

At the end of the day I think "I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough."  People who know be would have no problem guessing who made that quote.  If you know that song, you'll also know that it is completely taken out of context.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Best Wishes To Alex Trebek

I just found out that Jeopardy host Alex Trebek suffered a minor heart attack.  Thanks for regular reader and radio enthusiast Frank D for sending the news to me.  The article states that Alex should be OK for the next series of tapings of Jeopardy in January.

Please see http://omg.yahoo.com/trebek-hospitalized-with-heart-attack/news/4727 for more information.

                                          

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Channukah Dinner with the family

Karen, Lee and I met my mother at her apartment in Forest Hills and walked over to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  Of course, we had potato pancakes for Channukah among other things.  I really have to be thankful that my mother is still well at age 88.  She has some minor problems like arthritis, but thankfully nothing major.  It seems that longevity runs in her family since her older brother Abe is 90 and younger brother Sy is 85.  My grandmother lived until 90.  May they all live to 120.

Saturday, December 8, 2007

American Museum of Naural History Today

A few weeks ago a librarian colleague who works at the Museum gave me some free tickets.  Since I hadn't been to the museum (http://amnh.org) in several years I thought I should go with Karen and Lee.  The featured attraction was "Water H2O=Life" which discussed the sustainable management and use of this life-giving, but finite resource.  One exhibit stated that tap water costs one cent per gallon while bottled water costs $10/gallon three times the cost of gasoline.  We also saw another exhibit call "Mythic Creatures - Dragons, Unicorns & Mermaids".

Saturday Night Oldies was a short pre-recorded show tonight due to sports programming on WABC.  I was disappointed that nothing was said about the 27th anniversary of the murder of John Lennon

Friday, December 7, 2007

Lee Got the Final Jeopardy Question Right

The Final Jeopardy Category - Motown Singers

Answer - He added an e to his name because he didn't want people making fun of him.

The Correct Jeopardy Question - Who is Marvin Gaye

Lee got the answer within 5 seconds.  Pretty good for a 19 year old.  He had listened to WCBS-FM from birth until June 3, 2005 and from July 12, 2007 until today.  Whenever he saw a bus with an ad for Jack-FM he said a resounding BOO!

In fact Bob Shannon announced his birth on the air and Harry Harrison announced his Bar Mitzvah in May 2001.  We played the tape back at the reception.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Big Jeopardy Day for Me

The final Jeopardy question today was about a statement made by a notable woman in 1963.  The 3 contestants responded Jackie Kennedy.  My response was Lady Bird Johnson and I was correct.  I felt that Jackie Kennedy was too obvious for the final jeopardy question, so I responded Lady Bird Johnson.  I didn't win any money, but got a big high five from Karen and Lee.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Condolences to Linda C and family

My condolences to Linda C who lost her mother yesterday.  I met Linda in cyberspace in 1997 when we both posted on an AOL message board for fans of WCBS-FM.  Back then only AOL subscribers could access it, but now it is open to all.  You may try the following link to get to it:

http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=83887&filterRead=true&filterHidden=true&filterUnhidden=false&func=3&channel=Music

There were only 6 - 8 regular posters on this folder.  In 2000, 2001, and 2003  I met her at small gatherings that I had organized at Mendy's Restaurant on 34th Street and Park Avenue.  I had to pick this strictly kosher restaurant to accommodate Al G who is orthodox.  So this virtual community became a real one.  I met Linda again at bigger gatherings of oldies radio enthusiasts in June 2006,  December 2006 and just last Saturday at Ben's Deli.  She mentioned her mother was quite ill.

Again, my condolences to her and her family at this very difficult time.

 

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Imus in the Morning anecdote

There is much talk about the return of Imus in the morning to the New York radio waves less than a year after he made a stupid remark about the Rutgers womens basketball team.  I was never a big fan of talk radio and was indifferent to Imus.  At times I listen to sports talk on WFAN, but very irregularly.  If you want to read my entries of May 24, 2006 and May 24, 2007, you will see that Bob Dylan's birthday is a holiday in my household.  One year I was listening to WFAN the evening of May 23rd and set the clock radio to wake us up the next morning.  The second the radio went on Imus said "Today is Bob Dylan's Birthday."  My wife and I had a big laugh as we woke up.

Monday, December 3, 2007

Bought Tickets for Jersey Boys

Today I went to the August Wilson Theater to buy tickets for the Jersey Boys.  We are going on March 16th to celebrate Lee's birthday.  Broadway musicals are very expensive.  I spent $96.50 per ticket to sit in the back of the balcony.  The more expensive seats were $121.50.  As my cheap friend RH would say, it's the same show no matter where you sit.  By buying tickets at the theater I saved $7.50/ticket service charge.

                                                       

Sunday, December 2, 2007

And the Hits just keep on Coming

I stole that line from the old WOR-FM. I have gotten about 70 hits to this journal in the last two days.  Right now I am listening to Norm N Nite as he makes a guest appearance on the WCBS-FM Radio Greats show.  I think I told this story to Alan, but my other radio enthusiast friends may not know this story.  In June 1998, Karen, Lee and I planned a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.  We got to Laguardia Airport to wait for the flight and we see Norm N Nite waiting for the same plane.  He was friendly and spoke to us for a few minutes.

It was a little snowy in the morning.  It was only about an inch, but enough to make driving a little hazardous.  I listened to the entire 2 hours of Sounds of the Sixties in one session this morning.  I spoke to Roy over the phone.  I have a tradition of phoning him exacting at 9 AM on Sunday mornings.  He told me that he enjoyed I'm Not There.  Back in the late 1960s I walked with Roy to Forest Hills High School.  We talked about the WMCA and WABC surveys.  He loved Motown, especially Diana Ross and the Supremes.  I remember in October 1966 You Keep Me Hangin' On by the Supremes jumped from Good Guy Sureshot to #1 on the WMCA survey.  He was in seventh heaven.

Getting back to today.  As I have mentioned before it is always nice to have a movie multiplex in the neighborhood on bad weather days.  We see the movie Beowulf.  Again, nothing to get excited about.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Meet and Greet for Oldies Radio Enthusiasts

Today I attended a gathering of oldies radio enthusiasts at Ben’s Deli in Manhattan to celebrate the second anniversary of Saturday Night Oldies.  It was quite a successful event with 75 attendees.  There were similar events on June 3, 2006 and December 2, 2006.  The highlight of the afternoon was a little speech given by former WCBS-FM Dj Bobby Jay.  Bobby was let go on June 3, 2005 when the station all of a sudden became Jack- FM.  He has yet to appear on the new WCBS-FM that commenced on July 12, 2007.  He was very forthcoming and sincere with his radio enthusiast friends.  He made some comment that out of respect for him, I will not repeat here.  He has a radio gig on Sirius Satellite Radio.  Above is a picture of yours truly with Bobby.  Boy, do I look terrible.  The photos that I took may be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/Bigtownman/BensDeliDec12007

 

 

 

 

 

1000 posts in 2 months!

On October 2nd this journal reached 3000 hits.  Today it reached the 4000 mark.  I really wonder who is lurking out there.  I am aware of the following people who make comments or just lurk:

NJIT People

Din (past)

Mike B (past)

Erin

Heather

Galen

Radio Enthusiasts

Alan B

Frank D

Dave D

Several oldies enthusiasts have asked my for the mp3 of Noshville Katz

Forest Hill High School Alumni

Mike S

Baseball Enthuiasts

Louise from Minnesota

I am wonder who else has found this journal.  If so please let me who you are.  Are there any Bob Dylan enthusiasts lurking?  My e-mail is BruceS8852@aol.com.

Thanks

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Alan B is counting the hours and minutes

I was watchng the Knick game but they were losing badly to the Boston Celtics 37-18 in the middle of the second quarter.  The chants of "Fire Isiah" will be heard when the Knicks return to MSG.  Instead of watching a crummy game I decided to listen to 50s music not heard on WCBS-FM through XM that I get through AOL.  Right now they are playing Reet Petite by the late and great Jackie Wilson.

Anyway Saturday at 2 PM we will be celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of Saturday Night Oldies (SNO) at Ben's Deli in midtown Manhattan.  As of now it is 40 hours and 41 minutes away. Alan B, SNO's most avid listener, probably will not be able to sleep until he enters the restaurant.  He will be so excited that he will forget to order his pastrami on rye.  It look likes today is the day for me to write about readers of this journal.  Anyway, this will also be a belated celebration of the return of oldies or should I say classic hits to WCBS-FM.  The station is skyrocketing in the ratings.

Let me trace the history of gatherings of oldies enthusiasts.  I was very active in an AOL folder for WCBS-FM listeners.  Mary S, Linda C, Walt P, Al G and a few others posted there regularly.  In 2000, 2001, and 2003 we had small gatherings at Mendy's a strictly kosher restaurant on East 34th Street.  Since Al is orthodox, we had to accommodate him.  In June 2006 with the help of Jeff S I organized a gathering at Ellen's Stardust Diner for the first anniversary of the demise of the original WCBS-FM.  Frank D, another reader of this journal organized the highly successful gathering at Bens just a year ago for the first anniversary of SNO.  Alan B became the greatest enthusiast of these get togethers.  Many of us got together at a WABC Rewound cruise last June.

Anyway Jeff S organized the 2nd anniversary party for SNO on Saturday.  I will take photos and report in this journal.  I will be sure to take photos of Alan so readers of Facebook will know what he looks like.  Jeff reports that 70 or more people could be there.

Mazel Tov Din

Congratulations NETSJETFAN, long time reader and poster to Bruce's Journal,  for being accepted to the UMDNJ medical school.   Galen F who lurks here told me the good news.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Multitasking on a Weekday Evening

Let me report what I did tonight after returning from work.

1.  I turned on the CD player and finished the WFUV CD which I got from them after my yearly donation.  After that I started Levon Helm's new CD, called Dirt Farmer.  Levon belonged to the legendary Band.  One of these days I'll have write an entry about The Band.

2.  Karen, Lee, and I watched Jeopardy.  I think I documented my interest in Jeopardy in this journal.  Absolutely nothing stops me from watching Jeopardy.  I will never answer the phone while I am watching it.  Thank goodness for VCRs

3.  I surfed the Web.  Wrote and recieved e-mails from Alan B, Jeff S, and Dave D,

4. I phoned my mother.  Since she is 88 years old, I make it my business to call her once a day.  You never know what could happen to an elderly parent.  She had a little cold.

5.  I received a phone call from Alan B, world's greatest Saturday Night Oldies enthusiast.

6.  I watched Channel 13, the local PBS station that I had a show featuring Eric Clapton and other Blues guitarists.

7.  I downloaded the lastest Theme Time Radio Hour featuring songs about dreams

8. I worte a comment to Dave D's new journal

9.  I wrote this entry in my journal.

10.  In about 15 minutes I will turn off the computer and listen to Ron Parker on WCBS-FM.

11.  At 11:00 PM I will watch the TV news.

Then it is Zzzzz time.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Knicks Won Last Night 113-109

The Knicks beat the Utah Jazz last night  113-109 to improve their record to 4-9.  I guess I never discussed my interest in the Knicks in this journal.  I go back with them to the early 1960s when I watched the game on TV with my dad.  As a high school student in the mid 1960s we could purchase Knick tickets at the old 50th Street Madison Square Garden for $1.25.  Back in those days you could even see an NBA doubleheader on Tuesday Nights.  In the early 1970s when cable TV was in its infancy Knick home games were on the MSG Network which could only be seen in parts of Manhattan.  I remember the 7th game of the 1970 championship when our fraternity had an induction dinner in Brooklyn as we listened to the game on radio.

Knick tickets are very expensive these days.  Someone has to pay the multimillion dollar salaries of the players who can't win with any consistency.  In recent years I have only bought tickets to one or two games.  It is $45 for a seat behind the basket in the 300 level of MSG.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Funeral Today

Today was the funeral for Karen's uncle Irving Kanis who passed away on Thursday.  Karen said that it was ironic the he died on Thanksgiving since several times in the 1980s we went to his house in Brooklyn for dinner.  He moved to Florida in the 1990s so I hadn't seen him much in recent years.  The last time I saw him was in 2001 at Lee's Bar Mitzvah.  He made to toast to Karen and me at our wedding in 1983.  I will miss him.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Mark Simone made friends with me on Facebook

Facebook is a social networking site on the web.  At first it was usued exclusively by college students but now anybody can sign up.  When I logged in today I was surprised to see that WABC's Mark Simone asked to be my friend.  How can I say no.  I noticed that Mark had also made friends with Saturday Night Oldies enthusiast Pete Ritzert.  I know that Frank D and Alan B, two of the shows biggest fans also read this journal.  Anyone can join Facebook at http://facebook.com .  You can make friends with me, Mark or anyone of millions of members.

Friday, November 23, 2007

I'm Not There (but this is Black Friday)

Today is Black Friday, the biggest day of the year for shopping.

 

J. C. Penney was open at 4 AM – I’m Not There

Macy’s opened at 6 AM – I’m Not There

 

We left the house by 9:30 AM to get to the Lincoln Square Cinemas for the 11:00 show of my favorite movie.  Since we got there a little early we browsed around the Best Buy just a block away.  We entered the theater at 10:40 and got good seats in the middle.

 

I am not a film critic by trade or avocation. There have been many reviews of the movie written to date.  Let me make my comments as a Dylan fan since 1965.  Many readers of this journal were not born yet in 1965.

 

You must know at least something about Mr. Zimmerman before you can enjoy or even understand the complexities of this movie.  Whenever I read a biography or see a biographical movie I hope the author uses a chronological approach.  For example Walk the Line (Johnny Cash) and Ray (Ray Charles) were chronological with the same actor playing the subject.  Filmmaker Todd Haynes was anything but chronological in his approach to Dylan.  The movie moved from one time frame to another.  Let me make some disconnected comments:

 

  1. There has always been an “alias” theme in Dylan’s songs.  He assumes the identity of others in his sounds.There was even a book titled Alias Bob Dylan by Stephen Scobie.  In the movie Pat Garrett and Billie the Kid, Dylan’s character was named Alias. Haynes using the reverse alias theme here since the 5 actors and actress have different names.  There are other characters in Dylan’s life including Joan Baez, Albert Grossman, and Sara Lowndes (his first wife) who have other names in the film.  For some strange reason actors portraying Allen Ginsburg and Brian Jones (Rolling Stones) appear with their own name.
  2. The segments with Kate Blanchett as Dylan were shot in Black and White.  Much of these scenes represented the D.A. Pennebaker documentary Don’t Look Back about the 1965 tour of England.  There was a scene where Nashville Skyline Rag (1969) was heard in the background while Dylan was talking to 4 men looking like the Beatles who were being chased by fans as they were in A Hard Day’s Night (1964) another Black and White Film.
  3. Marcus Carl Franklin, the young Dylan named Woody, was thrown off a freight train into a river.  He was rescued by a couple that brought him home.  There they received a phone call saying that a kid from Minnesota was missing. (Hi Louise)
  4. Later in the film one of the Dylans visited the ailing Woody Guthrie in the hospital.
  5. As I write this journal entry, I am listening to the movie soundtrack that is Dylan Covers plus Dylan singing I’m Not There.  In the actual movie there are several songs that were actually sung by Dylan.
  6. There were no references to Dylan’s career after the born again Christian period of the late 1970s.  Cold Iron Bounds from the 1990swas on the soundtrack.
  7. Lee was disappointed that there were no references to Johnny Cash.  At age 19 he was the youngest person in the audience.
  8. As I mentioned before it is impossible to cover anything, but there was no reference to Dylan’s defense of boxer Ruben Hurricane Carter in the mid 1970s.
  9. There was a funny scene when the dubbed voice of Lyndon Johnson on a television screen said, “The Sun is Not Yellow, It’s Chicken”, a line from Tombstone Blues sung earlier in the film by Richie Havens.  I wish he would have said, “Even the President of the United States must have to stand naked” from It’s Alright Ma.
  10. I know some of my oldies enthusiast friends are reading this journal.  The only Top 40 hit in the movie was “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone” by the Monkees sung by former WCBS-FM DJ Micky Dolenz.  I had a little chuckle here.  The Monkees!  Why not Donovan or the Byrds or Crosby Stills and Nash?
  11. Karen, Lee and I among many others in the theater stayed until all the credits rolled.

 

I will definitely see I’m Not There again.  Most likely, I will wait until it comes out in DVD.  I will then be able to pause it while I make some explanations to Karen and Lee.  I have seen Don’t Look Back umpteen times over the last 40 years.  Whenever you see a movie again, you always see something else you missed the first time.   I would like to send hearty congratulation to Todd Haynes for a job well done.  If it wereup to me I would give him an academy award for best picture.

 

After the movie we walked up to the Barnes and Nobles on 66th Street and Broadway.  I bought Bookends about Simon and Garfunkel by New York radio personality Pete Fornatale.  The copy was even autographed by Pete.  I also bought another book about Dylan called Million Dollar Bash concerning Dylan, the Band and the basement tapes.  The song I’m Not There was recorded by Dylan and the Band but was lost until used in the film.  I bought a CD Dirt Farmer by Levon Helm who was an integral member of the Band for many years.  My final purchase was a Jeopardy calendar.

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Bob Dylan is no Turkey

On most Thanksgivings we go to my sisters house on Long Island, but since this year she went to her in-laws, Karen, Lee and I had Thanksgiving dinner at Ben's Deli in Bayside.  Early in the afternoon we watched the No Direction Home DVD since we wanted to see the real Bob Dylan not any actors or actresses playing him.  The Cable TV channel VH1 Classic is feturing a Dylan marathon today featuring No Direction Home, Don't Look Back, and Dylan Unplugged on MTV.  I will view the latter at 9:30 PM.  My radio enthusiast friend Alan sent me this link to a review in the Village Voice.  I'm Not There will be especially confusing to anyone not familar with Dylan.

http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0747,hoberman,78422,20.html

 

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I'm Not There - Preliminary Thoughts

Today I'm Not There opened nationwide.  Over the years I have read several biographies of Bob Dylan.  No Direction Home by Robert Shelton, the first one that I read emphasized the 1960s.  There were other biographies by Robert Spitz, Howard Sounes, and Clinton Heylin.  Dylan wrote an autobiography titled Chronicles.  No biographical work can be exhaustive.  Since Dylan rarely gives interviews the biographies must rely on interviews by the author.  Chronicles was somewhat vague and left some imagination to the reader.  For example everyone knows that Dylan was married to Sara Lowndes in 1965, but his biographer report that in the 1980s he married Carolyn Dennis, one of his background singers.  In Chronicles Dylan says, his wife, but doesn't mention either one by name.  I do expect I'm Not There to be vague and open to interpretation.  It will be interested to see if filmmaker Todd Haynes empahsizes any particular era of Dylan's career.  Bob is a very private person so I really don't think much of his personal life will be revealed in the film. Below is the review from the New York Times.  Friday will be the big day.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another Side of Bob Dylan, and Another, and Another ...

BYLINE: By A. O. SCOTT

SECTION: Section E; Column 0; The Arts/Cultural Desk; MOVIE REVIEW '
I'M NOT THERE'; Pg. 1

LENGTH: 1369 words

From Andy Warhol to Lonelygirl15, modern media culture thrives on the traffic in counterfeit selves. In this world the greatest artist will also be, almost axiomatically, the biggest fraud. And looking back over the past 50 years or so, it is hard to find anyone with a greater ability to synthesize authenticity -- to give his serial hoaxes and impersonations the ring of revealed and esoteric truth -- than Bob Dylan.

It's not just that Robert Zimmerman, a Jewish teenager growing up in Eisenhower-era Minnesota, borrowed a name from a Welsh poet and the singing style of an Oklahoma Dust Bowl troubadour and bluffed his way into the New York folk scene. That was chutzpah. What followed was genius -- the elaboration of an enigmatic, mercurial personality that seemed entirely of its moment and at the same time connected to a lost agrarian past. From the start, Mr. Dylan has been singularly adept at channeling and recombining various strands of the American musical and literary vernacular, but he has often seemed less like an interpreter of those traditions than like their incarnation.

His persona has been as inclusive as Walt Whitman's and as unsettlingly splintered as that of Herman Melville's Confidence Man. Vulnerable as Mr. Dylan is to misunderstanding (''I couldn't believe after all these years/You didn't know me better than that'' in ''Idiot Wind''), he also actively solicits it (''Something is happening here/But you don't know what it is/Do you, Mr. Jones?'' in ''Ballad of a Thin Man''). So it is only fitting that Todd Haynes, in ''I'm Not There,'' his incandescent rebus of a movie inspired by Mr. Dylan's life and music, has chosen to multiply puzzles and paradoxes rather than solve them. Not for nothing does one of Mr. Haynes's stories take place in a town called Riddle.

Among its many achievements, Mr. Haynes's film hurls a Molotov cocktail through the facade of the Hollywood biopic factory, exploding the literal-minded, anti-intellectual assumptions that guide even the most admiring cinematic explorations of artists' lives. Rather than turn out yet another dutiful, linear chronicle of childhood trauma and grown-up substance abuse, Mr. Haynes has produced a dizzying palimpsest of images and styles, in which his subject appears in the form of six different people.

Not one is named Bob Dylan (or Robert Zimmerman), though all of them evoke actual and invented points in the Dylan cosmos: Billy the Kid, Woody Guthrie, the Mighty Quinn. They're not all musicians: One is a poet named Arthur Rimbaud; another is a movie star.

These divergent visions of Dylan are played by two different Australians (Heath Ledger and Cate Blanchett); a young British actor (Ben Whishaw); a prepubescent African-American named Marcus Carl Franklin; Richard Gere; and the most recent Batman. Their stories collide and entwine, adding up to an experience that is as fascinating and inexhaustible as listening to ''Blood on the Tracks'' or ''The Basement Tapes.''

It is unusual to see a masterwork emerge from one artist's absorption with the work of another, though Mr. Haynes came close with ''Far From Heaven,'' his 2002 homage to the director Douglas Sirk. And while ''I'm Not There'' is immersed in Dylanology, it is more than a document of scholarly preoccupation or fan obsession.

Devotees of Dylan lore will find their heads swimming with footnotes, as they track Mr. Haynes's allusions not only to Mr. Dylan's own music but also to the extensive secondary literature it has inspired, from books by David Hajdu and Greil Marcus to films, including D. A. Pennebaker's 1967 documentary, ''Don't Look Back,'' some of which Mr. Haynes remakes shot for shot.

But the film is anything but dry, and like Mr. Dylan's best songs, it is at once teasingly arcane and bracingly plain-spoken. Mr. Haynes, switching styles, colors, film stocks and editing rhythms with unnerving ease (and with the crucial help of Jay Rabinowitz and Edward Lachman, the editor and the director of photography), has held his cerebral and his visceral impulses in perfect balance. ''I'm Not There'' respects the essential question Mr. Dylan's passionate followers have always found themselves asking -- What does it mean? -- without forgetting that the counter-question Mr. Dylan has posed is more challenging and, for a movie, more important: How does it feel?

As you watch the mid-'60s renegade folk singer Jude Quinn -- embodied in Ms. Blanchett's hunched, skinny frame and photographed in silvery Nouvelle Vague black and white -- pinball through swinging London, subsisting on amphetamines, Camel straights and gnomic talk, it feels like a pop earthquake. The '60s, man! As Mr. Ledger's character and his wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) meet, marry and fall apart, it feels like the heartbreaking aftermath of a moment of high promise and possibility. (That would be the '70s.)

Riding the rails in 1959 with a pint-size, wisecracking hobo who calls himself Woody Guthrie (Mr. Franklin) and saddling up with Mr. Gere's Billy the Kid in Riddle, Mo., in the 19th century, you feel a piercing nostalgia for a pastoral America that probably existed only in legend. With Christian Bale, playing a star of the Greenwich Village coffeehouse scene who resurfaces as a Pentecostal minister in Los Angeles years later, you experience a prickle of confusion and morbid curiosity. As it all unfolds, there may be other feelings too, including awe at the quality of the performances and occasional exasperation at Mr. Haynes's sprawling, hectic virtuosity.

Still, I would not subtract a minute of this movie, or wish it any different. Nor do I anticipate being finished with ''I'm Not There'' anytime soon, since, like ''Subterranean Homesick Blues,'' it invites endless interpretation, criticism and elaboration. Instead of proposing a definitive account of Bob Dylan's career, Mr. Haynes has used that career as fuel for a wide-ranging (and, if you'll permit me, freewheeling) historical inquiry into his own life and times. In spite of its title, ''I'm Not There'' is a profoundly, movingly personal film, passionate in its engagement with the mysteries of the recent past.

''Live in your own time.'' That's the advice young ''Woody Guthrie'' hears from a motherly woman who offers him a hot meal and a place to sleep. It's sensible advice -- he's daydreaming of the Depression in the middle of the space age -- but also useless. It's not as if anyone has a choice. To slog through the present requires no particular wit, vision or art. But a certain kind of artist will comb through the old stuff that's lying around -- the tall tales and questionable memories, the yellowing photographs and scratched records -- looking for glimpses of a possible future. Though there's a lot of Bob Dylan's music in ''I'm Not There,'' Mr. Haynes is not simply compiling golden oldies. You hear familiar songs, but what you see is the imagination unleashed -- the chimes of freedom flashing.

''I'm Not There'' is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It has sex, swearing, brief violence and drug use.

I'M NOT THERE

Opens today nationwide.

Directed by Todd Haynes; written by Mr. Haynes and Oren Moverman, based on a story by Mr. Haynes; director of photography, Edward Lachman; edited by Jay Rabinowitz; production designer, Judy Becker; produced by James D. Stern, John Sloss, John Goldwyn and Christine Vachon; released by the Weinstein Company. In Manhattan at Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, west of Avenue of the Americas, South Village. Running time: 2 hours 15 minutes.

WITH: Christian Bale (Jack/Pastor John), Cate Blanchett (Jude Quinn), Marcus Carl Franklin (Woody Guthrie), Richard Gere (Billy), Heath Ledger (Robbie), Ben Whishaw (Arthur Rimbaud), Kris Kristofferson (Narrator), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Claire), David Cross (Allen Ginsberg), Bruce Greenwood (Keenan Jones/Pat Garrett), Julianne Moore (Alice Fabian), Michelle Williams (Coco Rivington), Richie Havens (Old Man Arvin), Peter Friedman (Morris Bernstein), Alison Folland (Grace), Yolonda Ross (Angela Reeves), Kim Gordon (Carla Hendricks), Mark Camacho (Norman), Joe Cobden (Sonny) and Kristen Hager (Mona).



 

Monday, November 19, 2007

Experiences with cheapskates

I am famous for having a good memory so let me recall some experiences I;ve had with cheapskates in my life.  I will use initials to protect the privacy of my frugal friends.

1.  RH and I are alumni of Forest Hills High School  class of 1967 which had a 35th year reunion in 2002.  I paid $45 for the reunion, but RH came along, didn't pay, and told the organizers that he would hang around until the food came.

2.  When RH goes to the movies he tries to get free passes.  If he has to pay at a multiplex he usually goes to two or more movies when paying for only one.

3. Some years back RH and I went to the American Museum of Natural History.  A donation of any amount was required.  I gave $5, but RH gave a nickel.  In recent years his donation has increased to a quarter.

4.  When RH goes to the theater or to a ballet he buys the cheapest ticket.  He makes friends with the ushers and moves to better seats at the intermission.

5. When HK took his car with friends he would always ask for money for gas even if he went a few miles.

6 When HK invites people to his house in the winter he keeps the thermostat so low that all his guests freeze

Enough for now

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Taking Advice from A Cheapskate

Regular readers of this blog know that I am gretaly anticipating the release on Wednesday of I'm Not There, the biopic of Bob Dylan.  When I got the New York Times this morning there was a one page ad for the film in the Arts and Leisure section.  I had originally thought that it open only in the Film Forum but it will play at several theaters in the NYC area.  It will actually play in the Kew Gardens theater which is not too far from me at Queens.  We have been to that theater before, but it is very small and old.  I called my friend Roy, the "Culture Vulture" to ask him if we should see it at the Film Forum in Soho or the Lincoln Plaza Cinema uptown.  His answer - you may as well see it in Kew Gardens since it will be cheaper there.  We will have to check the times for Friday and decide which one is most convenient and decide if we want to hang around the Lincoln Center area or Soho.  One of these days I'll have to write a blog entry about Roy.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

First Basketball Game of the Season

For the past several years we have gone to many college basketball games at either Hofstra, Queens College, or CW Post.  The Knick games at Madison Square Garden are expensive that we can afford only one or two games a season.  Today we went to Hempstead, LI to see Hofstra play Manhattan College.  In a thriller Hofstra won 73-71 in overtime.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Adios Din

No se lo que esta biblioteca haria sin Din.  Yes, when I listened to Cousin Bruce Morrow on the radio in the 1960s I studied Spanish at Russell Sage Junior High School and Forest Hills Hills High School.  Anyway, Din, I wish you well at your new job at Rutgers and in all your future endeavors.  I wish I could leave the land of lunacy, hypocrisy, mediocrity, and prejudice, but it is very difficult to make a move when you reach my age.  It is such a shame that the staff is so factionalized.  Thanks for reading and posting comments to this blog.

Terrific Websites for NYC Radio Enthusiasts

At home and at work yours truly is always looking for new websites.  Today I discovedre http://wabctribute.com .  It includes links to video airchecks on YouTube of:

Cousin Bruce Morrow on WABC in 1967

Charlie Greer on WABC in 1967 with the famous Denison commercial

The Beatles in NYC - WABC coverage in 1964

Yesterday I found another one http://richmerritt.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/cousin-brucie/

This is actually Rich Merritt's blog where he gives links to 6 YouTube sites with Cousin Bruce Morrow's appearance on November 1, 2007 at a Barnes and Nobles bookstore in Manhattan promoting his new book.  I believe that I reported a few weeks ago that I bought it on Amazon.com

 

Check it guys.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Shopping today at Macys, Radio Shack, and Itunes

I always hate to go shopping but it is mid-November and I need some winter clothes.  We drove out to Macy's in Douglaston and bought a winter coat, some long sleeve shirts, and a hat.  We returned home and decided to eat lunch at McDonalds.  From there we walked over to RAdio Shack where I bought some blanks CDs, CD cases and the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire DVD game.  Millionaire is my second favorite game show after Jeopardy.  Since it is on 12:30 weekdays, I only watch it once a week after Karen records it on the VCR.  I also downloaded from Itunes the Flowers album released by the Rolling Stones in 1967.  I bought it years ago on an 8 track tape.

Mark Simone interviewed Harry Harrison tonight.  Lee really wanted to hear this interview since from his birth till age 15 he listened to Harry every morning.  Harry even announced Lee's Bar Mitzvah on his show in 2001.  We played back the tape at the reception.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

The Rolling Stones in 1967

Younger readers of this blog may not know what an LP is.  It is a Long Playing Record (vinyl) that existed many years before tapes, CDs, and MP3 files.  Anyway, on the way home from work today I was reading Goldmine Magazine (http://www.goldminemag.com)  which is for collectors of popular music.  In 2007 there were several articles commemorating the summer of love in 1967 including Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band.  In this week's issue there was an article about the 3 LPs that the Rolling Stones issued in that year:  Aftermath, Their Satanic Majesty's Request, and Flowers.  I still have the first two two in vinyl but bought Flowers on a 8 Track Tape.  Many years ago I discarded the 8 tracks I did own since I no longer had a player for them.  Tonight instead of listening to an internet radio station, I decided to listen to Aftermath.  My vinyl copy is still in pretty good condition and I still have a turntable.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Meeting a Radio Friend at Ellen's Stardust Diner

When I got my first computer in 1994 Prodigy was the premier online service.  Back in those days the Internet was in its infancy.  There were several radio boards on Prodigy that predated the famous New York Radio Message Board moderated by an unpopular dentist.  I met some interesting radio enthusiasts like Vic from Yonkers (now in Florida), Walt from Philadelphia, Andrea from Brooklyn, and Jonathan from Maryland.  Since that time I have always hooked up with Jonathan when I went to an American Chemical Society meeting in Washington.  Likewise, when he came to NYC, we would always get together.  Today he is in town for a lawyer's convention, so I met him for dinner.  We went to the famous Ellen's Stardust Diner at Broadway and 51st Street.  That restaurant is famous for its singing waiters and waitresses.  About a year ago I took Karen and Lee there.  On June 3, 2006 there was a gathering of oldies radio enthusiasts there.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Passing of a Colleague

Today I found out that my colleague Veronica Calderhead passed away after fighting soft cell sarcoma for several months.  Since I don't discuss work related issues that much on my blog let me explain that I am chemistry/chemical engineering librarian (among other subjects) at NJIT in Newark.  Veronica was the physical sciences librarian at the Dana Library of the Rutgers-Newark campus which is about a city block away.  I joined NJIT in 1992 while Veronica joined Rutgers in 1994, so I knew her for about 13 years.  We worked together for years while our respective bosses feuded.  She regularly came to the METRO Science Librarians group (http://www.metro.org/collaborate/index.php/Science%2C_Technology%2C_Medical_Librarians ) which I organized in 2000.  My condolences to her family.  She will be sorely missed.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Hofstra Football

It was somewhat windy today, but we drove out to Hofstra today to see their football team.  Due to the weather, we left after the third quarter.  It was a one-sided game anyway with Hofstra beating William and Mary 38-14.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Biographies of Musicians

I certainly spend enough times in libraries especially the No Joke Is True Place.  On the way home from work today I stopped into the local branch of the Queensborough Public Library.  Whenever I go there I use a very low tech approach and just browse the shelves.  I don't even go near a computer.  By luck today I picked up I Walked the Line by Vivian Cash, Johhny's first wife.  I just finished reading the autobiography of Eric Clapton which I bought from Amazon.com.  I certainly have plenty of musician's biographies in my personal collection especially of Mr. Zimmerman.  Heather, maybe I should compile a list and show it to our favorite managers :).

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I'm Not There Soundtrack CD

Yesterday I worked the late shift at the No Joke Is True place in beautiful downtown Newark.  Since I did not have to arrive until 1 PM I had time to stop at Borders just outside of Penn Station on 33rd Street.  I bought the greatly anticipated (for me at least) the soundtrack CD for I'm Not There which will play at the Film Forum starting on November 21.  The  2 CD set includes covers of Bob Dylan songs that will be heard in the film.  Generally I arrive home at 6 and it is a ritual in the Slutsky household for Lee to pick a CD to be played from 6:15 PM until 7:00 when Jeopardy comes on.  So today, we had time to listen to the first 7 cuts on the first of 2 CDs.  I really enjoyed Tombstone Blues by Richie Havens who in the past has done a fine job covering Dylan.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Hot Pastrami on Rye at Bens

I had a craving for a pastrami sandwich today.  The Kosher deli in my neighborhood closed about 12 years ago since Flushing became more Asian and less Jewish.  So, we took a short drive to Ben's in Bayside.  From there we went to Barnes and Nobles where we bought Lee a basketball book.  Then, it was on to Crocheron Park where we took a walk along Little Neck Bay.  My next pastrami sandwich will be on Dec 1 at Bens in midtown Manhattan where Alan B, a regular reader of this journal, will be the happiest man on the face of the earth since his "next event" will become a reality.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Bob Dylan - the Other Side of the Mirror

The next month will be very eventful for Bob Dylan fans.  Today I received from Sony Music the DVD titled The Other Side of the Mirror.  It features performances at the Newport Folk Festivals from 1963-65.  We watched the first half of it today.  Lee was pleasantly surprised to see a performance of Johnny Cash singing It Ain't Me Babe.

The soundtrack of the move I'm Not There comes out Tuesday October 30th while the movie will be released on November 21.

It was raining for most of the day.  I always hate it when it rains on the weekend, but what can we do.  This morning I spent sometime reader the Autobiography of Eric Clapton.  In the afternoon we saw the Tyler Perry movie Why I Got Married.

Saturday Night Oldies was only 30 minutes tonight since WABC is carrying the Ranger game.  Mark Simone had Bruce Morrow as his host plugging his new book that I bought from Amazon.com.  Right now I am listening to a retrospective of WNEW-FM on WFUV.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Lee Picked the wrong movie again

We let Lee pick the movie again today and he chose a real loser.  We went to see The Comebacks a really stupid football movie.  Even if you like football, save your money and do not see this movie.  I must say that Lee has better tastes in music.  Please see below:

                                            

                                            

                                             

Saturday, October 20, 2007

CW Post Football Today

We had a choice today:

CW Post Football at 12 noon

Hofstra Football at 4 PM

We chose the CW Post game since the weather gets cold and windy in the late afternoon.  Also since we got home at 3 PM, I can hear the entire Saturday Night Oldies show.  I don't bring my radio to sporting events like one of the regular readers of this blog.  Anyway  South Connecticut State College beat CW Post 42-17.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

24th Wedding Anniversary Today

It was 24 years ago today that Karen and I were married at the Old Westbury Hebrew Congregation.  We had about 140 people at the wedding.  It is a little sad to look at the photos and see how many people have passed away since then.  Anyway I will take this opportunity to recall a radio link to my wedding.

In the early 1980s there was a syndicated show called Soundtrack of the Sixties.  It first was heard on WCBS-FM when Murray the K was the host.  Sadly, Murray became ill and Gary Owens was the new host.  Gary is best known for his role on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, but for years has been a disk jockey in Los Angeles.  At that point the show was heard from 8 AM - 11 AM on Sunday mornings on WYNY which at that point was an Adult Contemporary Station at 97.1 FM.  I sent them a letter saying that I would be listening to the show on the way to my wedding and asked that three Beatles songs be played.  Beatles music was featured at the wedding.  Anyway, the morning of the wedding my best man Herb Hollander picked me up.  We listened to the show on the way, but there was no dedication.  I few weeks later I received a package from the producers of Soundtrack of the Sixties.  It was a cassette tape with Gary Owens wishing us a happy weeding and played the three Beatles songs that I requested.  Better late than never.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Second Anniversary of this blog

I don't remember what prompted me to start a blog two years ago.  I don't remember why I chose the AOL blog, but its still going.  Thanks to everyone who posted or just lurked here.

After Breakfast with the Beatles I will watch the Red Sox Indians game.  These playoff games run at leat 3 1/2 hours so I don't want to sit at the boob tube for all that time.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

History of Queens Conference at Queens College

I really wanted to do something completely different today so I attended a conference about the history of Queens.  There was no charge so there was absolutely nothing to lose.  Anyway, the introduction was given by Boro President Helen Marshall.  After the plenary session, there were several sessions with vaious talks.  I attended:

1.  The origins of Queens College.

2. I really wanted to hear a talk about the role of Robert Moses in the planning of Flushing Meadows Park but the speaker had to cancel.  Instead I heard a talk about the Queens Fram Museum in Little Neck.

3. The development of Forest Hills.

It was a full day conference but I decided to leave after the morning session.  It was a nice Fall day, and I didn't want to stay indoors the entire day.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

I'm Not There is coming

I'm Not There is a forthcoming movie (November 21) which traces the life and career of Bob Dylan,  What is unique about the film is that 6 actors will be playing Dylan at different times in his legendary career.  Today the cover story of the New York Times Magazine talked about the film and its producer Todd Haynes.(http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/magazine/07Haynes.html?_r=1&ex=1349496000&en=f45236abf9976a13&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin)

Movies by and about Dylan for the most part have not been accepted by mainstream audiences.  I sense that I'm Not There will only be of interest to Dylan enthusiasts.  The soundtrack CD will be released on October 30th.   On the same day there will be a release of a DVD of his performances at the Newport Folk Festival.

I was trying to get to Brian Matthew's show on BBC2 but I found this hour long compilation of Dylan concert recordings.

                                                        

 

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Hofstra Football Today

Today we saw our first football game of the season.  We go to college football since it is almost impossible to go a Jets or Giants game unless you have season tickets.  It most be a fortune to buy them through Ebay or Stub Hub.  The Hofstra tickets are an affordable $10.  They beat the University of Maine 38-13.  If you want to read about the game please go to http://www.hofstra.edu/Athletics/Football/ath_fb_gameresult.cfm?gameID=7721E164-65B3-F1F2-6DAF31697E86B1A5

Saturday Night Oldies was only 1/2 hour tonight since WABC was committed to broadcasting Army Football.  I am listening to WOGL the "oldies" station from Philadelphia tonight.  Hmm, people in the radio business, just don't like to use the expression oldies any more.

 

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Almost 3000 hits

In almost 2 years there have been 3000 hits to this blog.  This number is misleading since it includes my hits to my own journal.  I'd like to thank the people who have read my posts that range from the ridiculous to the sublime.  At least there will be no posts about the Mets until next spring.  Thanks to:

Alan B - Saturday Night Oldies and WCBS-FM Enthusiast

Din G - the big Yankees fan from NJIT

Mike B - former NJIT colleague now out in Arizona.  Hey Mike, are you rooting for the Red Sox or the Diamondbacks?

Mike S - fellow Forest Hills High School Alumnus

Louise A - whom I met on the Jay Buckley Baseball tour this summer

Frank D - another Saturday Night Oldies  and WCBS-FM Enthusiast

Heather H - NJIT colleague and Bob Dylan enthusiast

Several People who asked for the MP3 file of the novelty song Noshville Katz

Everybody is welcome to make comments

Sunday, September 30, 2007

One of the Worst Collapses in Baseball History

To make a long story short the Mets lost 12 of their last 17 while the Philadelphia Phillies won 13 out of  17 to win the National League East title.  It is arguable the worst collapse in baseball history.  I arranged my schedule today to be home at 1 PM to be able to watch the entire last game which began with the Florida Marlins scoring 7 runs in the first inning off Tom Glavine.  The final score was Florida 8 Mets 1.  I'll have to root for the Yankees to go all the way.

 

                            

Saturday, September 29, 2007

What a pennant race in the National League

I thought the Mets died last night after losing to the Florida Marlins 7-4 putting them one game behind the Phillies with two games to play.  Today the Mets beat Florida 13-0, but the big story was that John Maine was pitching a no-hitter until there were two outs in the eighth inning when an infield hit killed his bid for a no-no.  In 46 years no pitcher for the Mets have ever pitched a no hit game.  The Phillies lost today to the Washington Nationals creating a tie for the NL East lead with one game to go.  Everything rests on what happens tommorow.

                                                     Mr. Met was in front of Penn Station ...

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Gunman Found at St. John's University

From 1990-92 I worked at the libary of St. Johns University.  Today a student on campus was carrying a rifle.  He was apprehended before anybody was injured unlike the tragedy at Virginia Tech last April when 32 people were killed.  For further information, follow the link below.

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_269152217.html

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan Returns

Last Wednesday was the premier of the second season of Theme Time Radio Hour on XM Radio hosted by Bob Dylan.  I don't have a subscription to XM, but somebody posts the show which I download regularly.  We lsitened to this show during dinner tonight.  The theme of this show is Hello songs.  As you can see from the set list below, Bob picks songs from different genres of music.

  • Hello - Sherman Williams Orchestra - (194?)

  • Hello Mary Lou - Ricky Nelson - (1961)

  • Hello It's Me - The Nazz - (1968)

  • Hello Darlin' - Conway Twitty - (1970)

  • Hello Josephine - Luke 'Long Gone' Miles - (196?)

  • I Wanna Say Hello - Pee Wee King - (195?)

  • Hello Mello Baby - The Mardi Gras Loungers - (195?)

  • Hello Trouble - Buck Owens - (1964)

  • Hello, Aloha! How Are You? - The Radiolites - (1926)

  • Hello Walls - Willie Nelson - (1962)

  • Hello Stranger - The Carter Family - (1939)

  • Hello Stranger - Barbara Lewis - (1963)

  • Hello In There - John Prine - (1971)

  • Hello Goodbye - The Beatles - (1967)

                        







Saturday, September 22, 2007

Yom Kippur is over

For many years there was an orthodox synagogue in my part of Flushing since this neighborhood was predominantly Jewish.  As time passed, the Jews either passed on or moved to Florida.  The synagogue building was sold to the adjacent nursing home whose owners are allowing the congregants to use the community room for services.  For about 4 years we have gone to this congregation on the high holy days.  On Yom Kippur I say a memorial prayer for my father.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Finally, the Mets won

The Mets finally broke their 5 game losing streak with an 8-4 victory of the Washington Nationals.  As of this moment the Phillies are tied 1-1 with the St. Louis Cardinals so for now the Mets are 2 games ahead.  It is turning into a race in the AL East with the Red Sox lead falling to 1 1/2 games.  Back at the end of May the Yankees were 21-29 and 14 1/2 games behind the Red Sox.  The next 10 days will be exciting.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Oy Vey, the Mets are losing Ugly

Just when I thought the Mets could just coast into the NL East championship they are on a 4 game losing streak.  They are not just losing, but losing ugly.  At least I didn't go to any of the games that they lost.  The bullpen just can't do anything right.  Tonight, I had to turn off the game after they were losing 12-4 to the lowly Washington Nationals.  They must turn it around fast.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Across the Universe (Movie)

I finally saw a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed today.  The Terrific Three saw the movie Across the Universe which features Beatles songs sung by the cast.  The film is set in the late 1960s when these Beatles songs were first released.  The Beatle's music is timeless and appeals to all ages. There was a cameo of the voice of Cousin Bruce Morrow on the radio.   Lee asked to see it.  Since the movie is in limited release this weekend, we had to go into Manhattan to see it.  Afterward we walked over to the Virgin Music store and bought the soundtrack CD.  After a while we get tired of the College Point Multiplex.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Rosh Hashanah wishes

To all Jewish readers of this blog, I wish a happy and healthy new year.  I wish all others happiness as well.  For an explanation of Rosh Hashanah please see http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday2.htm  for an explanation of the significance of the holiday.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Jeopardy's new season

I think I reported in an early post that I have watch Jeopardy since the Art Fleming days in 1964.  Today was the first show of the 24th season of the Alex Trebek era.  They made some changes in the graphics, but the show goes on.  I hope some of my students in Freshman seminar are reading this.  I told them that this would be the easiest class they will ever take at NJIT.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Freshman Seminar Tomorrow at NJIT

As I start my 16th year at NJIT, I am also teaching a section of Freshman Seminar.  I have done this almost since I began.  It is difficult to keep 18 year olds "entertained" during the class period.  I start out by saying that it will be the easiest class they will ever take, but they get no credit for it.  This year I will only have to teach 6 weeks instead of the usual 10 weeks in other years.  I will have to wait and see what happens tomorrow.   Anything is better than babysitting a computer lab.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Tom Glavine wins #303

We headed out to Shea today for likely the lat time this season.  Today's game was the last of our 7-pack.  Tom Glavine retired the first 15 batters while David Wright hit a solo home run with chants of MVP.  He ran into a little trouble in the eighth inning and subsequently was relieved by Aaron Heilmann and Billy Wgner who got the save in the 3-1 victory.

                                                         

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Beginning of the new school year

Yesterday, the day after Labor day was the beginning of the school year for everyone it seems.  Just last week things were so slow with the NJIT campus almost deserted.  Starting yesterday the buildings were full of students.  Of course, the busiest place in the library is the computer lab.  Our number one question is why doesn't my account work.  Lee had a tough time the first two days with his school bus.  I really don't want to discuss the details.  Hopefully things will be better for him tomorrow.

Monday, September 3, 2007

76 Pitches

Ok Young Mike, the entry will not be as poignant as the last one.  Although it was a nice day today, I had to stay inside at 1 PM to watch the Mets play the Cincinnati Reds.  Pedro Martinez pitched his first game of the season after recovery from rotator cuff surgery.  After 5 innings and 76 pitches Pedro left the game with the Mets ahead 4-3.  The relief pitching and the hitting came through late in the game as the Mets won 10-4.  If Pedro stays healthy the rest of the way the Mets can go all the way.  Maybe we'll have a repeat of the 1986 World Series with the same result.

                                                          

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Cemetery Visits today

It is customary to visit the graves of loved ones before the high holy days in September.  I picked up my mother this morning and went with Karen and Lee to my dad's grave in New Montefiore Cemetery on Long Island.  It is hard to believe that it is 10 years since he passed away.  From there we visited the graves of Karen's mother and grandmother in a nearby cemetery.

On a happier note since Tuesday will be my mother's 88th birthday, we took her out for breakfast at the Scobee Diner in Little Neck on the way home.

I went to the BBC2 web site and there was no listing for Sounds of the Sixties this week.  Oh well.  So I am listening to the Acoustic Cafe on Boomerradio.com for the first time in many months.

 

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Random Thoughts of The Day

I was always a fan of specialty programming on the radio.  Somehow I found podcasts of the Lost Lennon Tapes on the web.  I believe that in the late 1980s the show was heard on WNEW-FM.  WCBS-FM is playing the top 500 songs this weekend as voted by the listeners.  This time I voted for Hit the Road Jack by Ray Charles which landed at #303 on the survey.  I'm really glad that the executives at CBS radio got rid of the Jack format at 101.1.  Saturday Night Oldies will be on only for 1/2 tonight since WABC is committed to broadcasting Army football.

A little later we will go to see the Bourne Ultimatum at the local multiplex.  At least the wether will be nice this weekend.

 

Monday, August 27, 2007

Highway 61 Revisted - 42nd Anniversary

Lee went into his music history book and read that today is the 42nd anniversary of the release of Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisted.  Back in August 1965 I returned from a croo country bus tour of the USA.  I discovered Dylan at that time when Like a Rolling Stone was a big hit on the radio.

                                                           Album:, Highway 61 Revisited [ more ...

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Take a Look at My Photos

Since this past week was so hectic with the Boston trip and Ralph's funeral, we decided to take it easy today.  We saw the movie Rush Hour 3 at the local multiplex.  It was nothing to get excited about.  I thought readers of this blog might want to see my photos from my last two vacations and Lee's trip to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.  Check it out at http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtownman 

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Funeral Today

My sister's father-in-law Ralph Feuer passed away at the age of 88 on Tuesday.  He had sufferred with Alzheimers' for several years but the immediate cause of death was pneumonia.  I hadn't seen him since my nephew Adam's Bar Mitzvah about 5 years ago.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Back from Boston

We arrived at our motel in Qunicy, Mass Friday about 1:30 PM.  We took this motel since it was within walking distance of the subway.  The hotels in Boston were so expensive that I thought I could get a room much cheaper in the suburbs.  I went to the American Chemical Society meeting at the new convention center.  I spent most of my time at events of the Division of Chemical Information.  I learned about new and improved products on the market as well as how other chemistry librarians were teaching their students how to use web-based products.  There were several restaurants within walking distance of our motel.  We left this morning about 9 AM and arrived home shortly after 1 PM.  The speed limit for most of I-95 was 65 MPH.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Off to Boston tomorrow for the American Chemical Society Meeting

Once a year I like to wear my chemistry hat.  I received a masters degree in chemistry in 1974 but haven't worked as a labortory chemist since August 1977 about the same time that Elvis Presley died.  For many years I have been a science/engineering librarian specializing in chemical information.  Tommorow I am leaving for the American Chemical Society national meeting in Boston.  I am driving there with Karen and Leeand will be staying at a hotel in Quincy, Mass.  From there I can take the subway to the convention center.  Since the early 1990s I have gone to the August meeting in cities such as Philadelphia, Washington, New Orleans, and Chicago.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Sad Baseball New Today

Hall of Famer and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto passed away today at age 89.  He played his entire career for the Yankees.  From 1957-1996 Phil did radio and TV play by play for the Yankees.  He will be sorely missed by all baseball fans.

Library Conference Today

Since things are slow in August at the NJIT Library I decided to go to a library conference today at Baruch College in Manhattan.  It is always nice not to have to travel to Newark.  This conference was called a Library Camp.  It was different since the program was not set until today.  Participants could send via e-mail or a wiki their suggestions for a conference.  I attended three sessions:

Web 2.0 initiatives in libraries

Information Literacy

Virtual Reference

There was a good exchange with colleagues from other libraries.

The web site for this conference is http://librarycampnyc.wikispaces.com/

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Stormy Morning and the Dentist (2nd time)

This is a repeat what happened on July 18th which I didn't report on this blog. I was scheduled today for a dentists appointment at 10:30 AM in Forest Hills. I was planning to finish there by 11:30 and then go to work for 1/2 day. There were very strong thunderstorms in the NYC area this morning. There even was a possible tornado in Brooklyn. I was going to leave my apartment at 9:30 for the dentist. I phoned the office, but nobody was there yet. I decided to take a chance and take the subway there and hope that she will be there by 10:30. I took the #7 line to 74th Street. There was no underground service to Forest Hills, so I turned back to go home. The dentists office phone me and rescheduled my appointment for 4:30. I have plenty of sick time and there is nothing much doing in the summer anyway. Finally my dental work is completed for a few months at least.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

We Saw A-Rod's 500th Career Home Run

Back in February a bought tickets for two Yankee games.  I obviously could not predict what would happen 6 months in the future.  In the first inning today at Yankee Stadium Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th career home run.  He is the youngest player ever to reach that milestone.  The Yankees went on to win 16-8 in a four hour game.  I just hate long games. There were many deep counts,  foul balls and pitching changes that made the game drag on,

Friday, August 3, 2007

My name was on WCBS-FM

I had sent news director Al Meredith an e-mail suggesting that newscasts be added at :30 in AM drive.  Al sent me back a nice e-mail saying that they are considering that.  Dan Taylor just read that I sent in a suggestion.
 
I do practice what I preach saying that I am thrilled that WCBS-FM is back, but I still want to listen to other radio stations.  My wife was listening to WCBS-FM in the dining room while I was listening to WFUV in the bedroom.  At 7:30, I turned on the Breeze.  I will now switch to WBGO.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

The Mets lost last night 6-5

For the first time in 35 years there was a day-night doubleheader at Shea Stadium yesterday necessitated by an early season rainout.  Our 7 pack included the night game.  Unfortunately for us the Mets lost 6-5.  In the parking lot we saw a bus for the Jay Buckley Baseball tour.  They were seeing last nights game before heading up to Cooperstown for the induction of Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwinn today.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Newark Bears game yesterday

The Newark Bears are a minor league team in the Atlantic League.  Since the NJIT baseball team plays at their stadium we get free tickets for their games.  For the third year in a row I have tried to get some of my library colleagues to join me at a game there, but I failed.  It didn't bother me to go by myself.  The game started at 11 AM to accommodate day camps who bring their kids to the game.  The Bears defeated the  Road Warriors 4 - 2.  After the game ended at 2 PM, I went to work.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Radio Comments of the Day

1.  I am obviously thrilled that CBS Radio realized their mistake and restored "oldies" to 101.1 FM.   I will continue to listen to other radio stations over the air and on the Internet.  Why should I give up listening to fine programs like Sounds of the Sixties of the BBC.  I will continue to listen to WFUV, WBGO, CD101.9 and Breakfast with the Beatles among others.

2.  The 80s music now heard on WCBS-FM is not my favorite, but I certainly accept the changes that were made to try to attract a younger audience.  I accept the fact that WCBS-FM will never be the same as it was from 1985-95.  Many of the heritage personalities have retired or moved on.

3.  This morning played Acoustic Sunrise, a show taken from JACK-FM.  I enjoy that genre of music, but just could not listen to JACK at all after the events of  June 3, 2005.  That music is often heard on WFUV.  I was always a fan of specialty shows and feel that this show could be an asset to WCBS-FM.

4.  I listened to parts of the Radio Greats Reunion heard on the Breeze from Long Branch, NJ.  Herb Oscar Anderson really sounded terrific at age 79.  Since the Met game ran late, I could only listen to the last 15 minutes of Don K. Reed's Doo Wop Shop.  Hopefully WCBS-FM will have a specialty show for early rock music.  It was interesting that Don never said WCBS-FM.  He called it "the other station."

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Brooklyn Cyclones game tonight

Once a year we like to take in a Brooklyn Cyclones game at Keyspan Park in Coney Island.  We usually arrive early to take a walk on the boardwalk and have hot dogs at Nathans.  We left Flushing at 4:00 and hit very heavy traffic on the Belt Parkway.  When we got off the parkway exit we again hit heavy traffic on the side street leading to the stadium.  When we got to the stadium the parking lot was filled.  In other years we had no problem getting parking, but I guess there was a big beach crowd there.  I could not find any parking on the street, but found a parking lot for a Pathmark grocery store.  There was a sign saying that this is a private lot for customers only and threatened to tow away violators.  I was so aggravated at the time, but I felt I had to take a risk.  We walked about 1/2 mile to the ballpark and got there shortly before the game started.  We could not walk along the boardwalk and ate hotdogs there instead of at Nathans.  The Brooklyn Cylcones took a 6-0 lead by the 6th inning.  Throughout the game I was on "pins and needles" hoping that my car would not be towed in the Pathmark lot.  This could entail a $150 fine and aggravation retrieving my car.  We decided to leave early since the longer my car was there the more likely it would be towed.  We arrived at the lot at 8 PM and luckily my car was there.  The lot was still crowded and I guess nobody noticed that I didn't go into the store.  It is a shame that traffic and parking can put a damper on my evening.  It turns out that the Cyclones won 11 - 2.

http://www.brooklyncyclones.com/team/statistics/index.php?autoload=boxscore&gid=2007_07_21_trcasx_broasx_1&sportcode=asx

 
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