Bruce Slutsky was born in New York City in 1949. I retired two years ago after working as a Science/Engineering Librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark for 25 years. I have been married to Karen since 1983. We have a son Lee who is now 32 years old. I am very much interested in the popular music of the 1960s especially Bob Dylan and the Beatles. I am interested in rock and roll radio. I am a big fan of the New York Mets.
I have been perusing some older posts of this journal that had YouTube videos. Many of them were taken down since I posted them years ago. I assume that they were posted illegally since they violated copyright law.
I still think that very often the media creates the news:
There was much ado on The Today Show as they did a story on how Meghan Markle suffered a miscarriage. Do Americans really care about this?
There was a mention that today would have been the 60th birthday of JFK Jr. who tragically died in an airplane accident in 1999. Is this of interest to news hounds?
The media made much ado about the owl that was found in the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. Someone even created a Twitter account for the owl. I guess some people have nothing to do.
On Wednesday, November 18 I raised some questions about the future of Jeopardy. A few of them were answered.
There will be reruns in the weeks of December 21 and 28th. This makes sense as people will be busy with the holidays and away from their TVs.
Alex Trebek's last week will be aired from January 4-8.
Ken Jennings will be the first interim host beginning January 11.
Here are some questions:
How long will Ken be the interim host?
What other people will serve as interim hosts? Steve Harvey, Brooke Burns, and Joey Fatone come to mind as they are currently hosting game shows, but will an actor, newscaster, or former athlete appear as an interim host? There is an online petition for Levar Burton to be the host.
Will the time as an interim host be an audition for the permanent host?
Who will be the permanent host and when will he/she assume the position?
This YouTube video is about 1 hour and 19 minutes long. I am leaving it here as a reminder to watch it when I have time. Likely, I will have to listen to it in 2 sittings.
I am writing this review as I am reading it on the Amazon Kindle. I have completed about 75% of it and will finish it by tomorrow. Chris is best known for being a member of the Byrds. He was members of several other groups:
Desert Rose Band
Manassas
McGuinn, Clark & Hillman
Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen
Souther-Hillman-Furay Band
The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Hillmen
I have followed his career since The Byrd's famous cover of Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man in 1965. I really think he didn't the recognition he deserved in that group since they were 5 excellent musicians. When most people think of the Byrds Roger McGuinn comes to mind. He stayed with the group until the Sweetheart of the Rodeo album in 1968. I had the pleasure of seeing him in concert at New York's Town Hall celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sweetheart of the Rodeo.
The book is an autobiography written without a ghostwriter. Chris is very candid as he outlined his personal and professional lives. Some consider him one of the fathers of country rock. I never read a book or article where a musician was critical of some of his own work. I enjoyed two of his songs on The Byrds, a reunion album of the five original members issued in 1973 (Things will be Better and Borrowing Time) but Chris stated he didn't like them.
I found out much about Chris that I didn't know even though I've heard his music for over 50 years. I didn't know that his father was Jewish and committed suicide when Chris was young.
I highly recommend this book for all fans of folk, folk-rock, country, and country-rock music. Here are a few other relevant websites:
Nobody can replace Alex Trebek as the host of Jeopardy, but someone will eventually succeed him as the host of Jeopardy. I am certain that by now the producers of the show have privately had discussions. Will the next host be "grandfatherly" as Alex was, a younger man, or a woman. There is an online petition to appoint Levar Burton as the host. Some people think Ken Jennings should be the new host. I proposed Brooke Burns as she has experience as the host of two quiz shows that have featured Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer.
Jeopardy shows with Alex as host were pre-recorded until October 29 and will air until Christmas Day. There are options for the producers:
Air reruns until a permanent host is appointed
Make someone an interim host until a permanent successor is found
Give applicants trial runs as host as part of their interview
Appoint a permanent host immediately
Some viewers equated Alex with Jeopardy and may not watch the show again. We will have to wait and see what will happen.
The number of bicycles on the street has grown tremendously in 2020 likely since people are afraid of contracting COVID on public transportation. The National Safety Transportation Administration (NSTA) reported 857 death of bicyclists in 2018. Obviously, cars must watch out for cyclists, but bicycle riders watch out for cars and pedestrians. I am a driver of a car and a pedestrian as well and have observed carelessness on the part of all. When I walk along a sidewalk I can see bicycles coming from the other direction, but can not even hear a bicycle behind me. On a few occasions a bike almost him me. Here are some guidelines from NSTA:
Drive with the flow, in the same direction as traffic.
Obey street signs, signals, and road markings, just like a car. - I rarely see cyclists stop for red lights
Assume the other person doesn’t see you; look ahead for hazards or situations to avoid that may cause you to fall, like toys, pebbles, potholes, grates, train tracks. - Do cyclists look out for pedestrians on sidewalk?
No texting, listening to music, or using anything that distracts you by taking your eyes and ears or your mind off the road and traffic. - When a cyclist is listening to music through headphones, he is essentially deaf to any other noise. I have also seen cyclists looking at their phones.
Let's hope that cyclist, pedestrians, and drivers use common sense.
Since I hadn't visited the American Folk Art Museum near Lincoln Center since April 2019, I thought it was time for a return visit as the exhibits change. This museum only shows works from artists who are self-taught so don't expect anything from Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, or any other well-known artists. It is a small museum, but there is no admission charge. Patrons are encouraged to give a small donation. All museums in NYC require advance reservations so that social distancing among patrons is enforced.
There were two major exhibitions:
American Perspectives: Stories from the American Folk Art Museum Collection
Six Decades Collecting Self-Taught Art: Revealing a Diverse Artistic Narrative
Below are two works that I will feature in this entry
