Seniors Should Watch Out for Scams

At age 70 I am a senior citizen whether I like it or not.  I am aware that older people are especially vulnerable to scams.  I get tons of emails every day that I immediately delete since they are obviously spam that makes phony offers.  Very often these emails circumvent the filter provided by the email service.  Thankfully, I have caller ID and ignore calls when I don't recognize the number.  If the call is important, a message will be left on my voice mail.

I found this web site 10 common financial scams that target seniors.

Blowin' in the Wind by Dolly Parton

Blowin' in the Wind is certainly an appropriate song for Martin Luther King Day.  It has been covered numerous times over the decades, but I never heard the Dolly Parton version. I thank Laura Tenschert who mentioned it on her Definitely Dylan radio show.  She also mentioned that Dolly wanted Bob Dylan to do a duet with her, but he refused.

Listening to Radio Interviews at the Library for the Performing Arts at NYPL

Last September there was a Tribute and Retrospective of Pete Fornatale at the Library for Performing Arts of NYPL.  It was announced that the archives of Pete Fornatale's interviews were donated to NYPL and would be available for the public.  Apparently, the staff who run the events were not aware that the recordings needed to be processed before they could be made available for public listening.  I kept in touch with the curators of the archives for a few months who advised me of the progress of their availability.  Today a curator was very helpful in setting up a terminal so that I could hear some of the recordings.  Let me describe what I heard.

I was especially interested in hearing the Roger McGuinn updates that were broadcast on WNEW-FM and K-Rock.

• I first heard a recording from April 22, 1989, on WNEW-FM when Pete and Roger talked about Earth Day.  Roger, Peter Yarrow, Richie Havens, and others performed later that day at Exxon Plaza to support environmental preservation.  He also said that he was not pleased with the quality of the Byrds CDs that Columbia Records released.  Keep in mind that at that time CDs were new and record companies were transferring the music from analog to digital.
• The next Roger McGuinn update that I heard was in 1990 celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Byrds.  He talked about a benefit concert for Roy Orbison when Bob Dylan joined him in singing Mr. Tambourine Man.  At that time he signed a solo recording contract with Arista Records.
• On October 4, 1992, Roger appeared with Pete on the Sunday Show heard on K-Rock.  He discussed his forthcoming appearance (October 16) at the 30th Anniversary concert for Bob Dylan later called the Bob Fest.  He also talked about his Back From Rio album released at that time.
• The earliest Roger McGuinn update that I heard was from March 6, 1982, on WNEW-FM.  He had toured with former Byrd Chris Hillman at that time but decided to end that effort.  He had no plans to record at that time.  However, he was still performing and was scheduled to appear at My Father's Place on Long Island.  He talked about the Byrds' recording of Mr. Tambourinine Man that became a number 1 hit.  He played it in the studio.  Roger played acoustic versions of several songs on the 4 recordings that I list here.

I heard a brief interview with Pete of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel that was broadcast on WFUV in 1966.  At that time Paul said that The Dangling Conversation was his favorite song.  Please keep in mind that it was 54 years ago when he said that.

I heard a recording from the 1980s of Pete's interview Cynthia Lennon as she discussed how she found out about John's death,

Finally, I heard two interviews (August 3, 1982, and February 11, 1990) with Al Kooper.  He talked about his relationship with Bob Dylan.  He played in Dylan's backup band at Newport, Forest Hills and the Hollywood Bowl in 1965.  He played on the New Morning album in 1970 but didn't hear from Dylan for several years after that.  In my opinion, Al Kooper is a remarkable musician who should have received more recognition.

I Blame Brodie Van Wagenen and the Wilpons for this Fiasco

Any job interview should be an honest exchange between the hiring manager(s) and the candidate.  I obviously don't know what transpired when Carlos Beltran was interviewed by the Mets' management, but he should have been grilled about the situation with the sign-stealing accusations with the Astros.  Everyone fibs a little bit at a job interview as any candidate should not volunteer information that is potentially damaging.  Van Wagenen and the Wilpons should have investigated Beltran's involvement with the Astros before the report was issued by MLB.  Beltran should not have been hired if there was any doubt about his involvement.

A few questions:

• Who will be the next Met manager?  Will they appoint one of the unsuccessful candidates from the recently concluded search?  Will someone else emerge?  Should the successful candidate have previous managerial experience or will they hire someone like David Wright?  What will happen to the coaches who were recently hired?

I Won A Second Award from Marquis Publications

The people at Marquis publications must really like me as they gave me a second award.  This time they named me a top scientist. .  I started out my career as a chemist which of course is a physical science, but I did not fare well in that endeavor.  I changed careers and became a science/engineering librarian with a specialty in chemical information.  Library Science is a social science, so I am flattered that I won this award from this publisher.  I have colleagues at other universities who I feel are just as qualified as I to win this award.

There is some irony in winning these two awards as I could not win an award from my former employer.  The late University Librarian was going to nominate me for the American Library Association’s I Love My Librarian Award.  After he saw how detailed the application was, he just didn’t want to be bothered.  He said he would nominate me for a local award, but he never did.

I decided only to announce my award through this journal and Facebook. A few months ago, I Won the Albert Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.  After I sent the announcement to my former colleagues, I was disappointed as I received only a few congratulatory messages. It would only take a minute to send a message via email. Thus, I will not directly send this announcement to them.  As I mentioned in this journal a few months ago, “out of sight out of mind” supersedes “keeping in touch”.

I will appreciate any congratulatory messages I receive.

Two Books About the New York Mets Will Be Published Soon

The Mets have made news this offseason by signing free-agent pitchers Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha, and former Yankee Dellin Betances.  There still may be more moves made before spring training begins.  In the meantime, I found out about two books about the Mets that will be published soon.

Mets in Popular Culture by David Krell published by McFarland Books.  David is an active member of SABR (Society for the Advancement of Baseball Research).  David wrote an article on this subject in the Fall 2015 Baseball Research Journal that may be accessed on the SABR website.

The New York Mets All-Time All-Stars by Brian Wright.  It is scheduled to be released on March 1.

St. Johns 74 DePaul 67 at Madison Square Garden

Since professional basketball is so expensive and the Knicks are just terrible, we try to see a few St. Johns games each season at Madison Square Garden.  For $40 we got seats in the upper level but in the center of the court.  Since we are now in January, most of St. Johns games will be against Big East conference opponents.

DePaul took an early 13-7 lead, but the Johnnies were in control for most of the game taking a 39-34 lead at halftime.  They scored the first six points of the half to take an 11-point edge, 45-34.  They later opened up a 62-50 lead, but DePaul closed the gap at one point to 4 points.  The Red Storm held on to win the game 74-67.

Report from Red Storm Sports.