Thursday, February 28, 2013

More Dates for the April 2013 Leg of the Bob Dylan Never ending Tour

Dylan will be touring on the east coast this April as more dates were just announced.  He will be appearing at my Alma Mater the University of Rhode Island.  List of dates.  And the beat goes on.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Jeopardy Tournament of Champions Was Superb

There were no losers in the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions.  The big winner seen above was Colby Burnett, a teacher from Oak Park, Ill.  Chemist Keith Whitener finished second while Kristin Morgan finished.  The two games were very well played.  Now it is back to regular games.

Monday, February 25, 2013

So Far Only One Date for Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour in 2013

One of the Bob Dylan sites on Facebook reported today that he will be playing on April 13, 2013 at the Convocation Center of California University of Pennsylvania.  I found this on Ticketmaster.  It is strange that only one concert has been announced.  My guess is that there are other dates being negotiated, but only this one has been finalized.  There is no mention of this on:

Bob Links - Bill Pagel's site which is very reliable.
BobDylan.com - the official web site

I think I will notify Bill Pagel.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Pittsburgh 63 St. Johns 47

We took the subway to Madison Square Garden to see the St. John's Red Storm play the Pitt Panthers in a Big East showdown.  The game was pretty even in the first half, but the Johnnies shooting really fell off in the second half.  I guess the #20 ranked Panthers were just too much.

Game Recap

Saturday, February 23, 2013

My Son Didn't Hear Cousin Bruce Play His Dedication

The young man in this photo is my son Lee Slutsky who has become the family's biggest hockey enthusiast.  He was very happy when the NHL lockout ended this month.  This evening he was watching the Rangers play the Montreal Canadians while his father sent Cousin Bruce an e-mail dedication.  Since Lee is NYC's biggest Johnny Cash fan I dedicated I Walk the Line to him.  Lee was engrossed in the hockey game while the Cuz read my dedication.  Oh well.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Random Thoughts of the Day

Karen stopped by Pathmark and picked up a copy of the special collectors issue of Rolling Stone magazine that featured 40 years of interviews and a list of his 100 greatest songs.  There is still no news about the resumption of the Never Ending Tour in 2013.

The three finalists in the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions are:

  • Kristin Morgan
  • Keith Whitener
  • Colby Burnett
These are 3 excellent players.  I am really looking forward to seeing the 2 game finals on Monday and Tuesday.  It should be an excellent match with very few missed questions.  Keith made a gutsy move in the semi-finals by betting $10,000 on a daily double.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Alan Seltzer - Facebook Friend of the Day

Right now I am listening to Alan Seltzer on WCWP as his Grooveyard show is honoring Murray the K.  WCWP is the radio station of LIU Post located in Brookville, Long Island.  I believe that Alan is an alumnus of that fine university.  The photo above was taken at the Oldies Radio Meet and Greet and Ben's Deli on November 12, 2012.  It is always nice to hear some innovative radio programming. Thanks, Alan for a fine job.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I Bought a 6 Pack for the Mets for this season

This is the first time in months that I have written about the Mets in this journal.  Yesterday I phoned the Mets ticket office and bought a 6 pack including one game against the Yankees. People are not very optimistic about the Amazins for 2013 since it will likely be a rebuilding year.  To quote Paul Simon, I am Still Crazy After All These Years.

Monday, February 18, 2013

My Review of Ben Sidran: A life in the music


Ben Sidran has appeared in Bruce’s Journal 3 times:


In the book above there was reference to Ben's autobiography:
Sidran, B. (2003). Ben Sidran: A life in the music. New York: Taylor Trade Pub.

Using my librarian skills I found out the book was available in the Lincoln Center branch of the New York Public Library.  I was happy to find out that the book was available for the Amazon Kindle.  I chose the latter alternative so I wouldn’t have to schlep the book on the subway to work.  Ben also got a royalty on my purchase.

It took me about a month to read it since I read so many other newspapers and magazines and listen to radio stations of different formats. There is only so much time in a day, and I have to earn a living. I rarely read and listen to music at the same time even when I am reading about music or a musician.

Ben was born in Chicago, raised in Racine Wisconsin, and lived much of his life in Madison.  His autobiography  uses a chronological approach covering his personal and professional life.  He actually quit school at the University of Wisconsin to work in a record store, but later returned to his studies.  I would have loved to work at the House of Oldies in Greenwich Village back when I was a kid.  He later received a doctorate in American Studies at the University of Surrey in the UK.

He details his musical career including working with Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs among many other musicians.  He hosted and produced radio shows for NPR.  The autobiography was published in 2003 thus does not include his recent works including Dylan Different.  I would love to find out what motivated him to cover Dylan.  I also wonder if Ben had ever met Mr. Zimmerman or if Zimmy ever heard Ben’s versions of his songs.  In any event, I hope Ben revises his autobiography.

If you are in a hurry you can read the Wikipedia biography in less that 5 minutes, but it only gives a very cursory treatment.  Read the book and get the whole story.

What is next?  I shall look in iTunes or Amazon.com and see what works of Ben Sidran may be purchased.  Many of his early recordings are likely out of print and have never been digitized



Sunday, February 17, 2013

Tony Sheridan Dies at Age 72


Alan Berman is certainly on the ball as he announced on Facebook the passing of Tony Sheridan who played with the Beatles in the early 1960s.  You can hear his version of My Bonnie at the video above.  It is not necessary for me to repeat what has been written elsewhere.  For further information, please see:

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Today's Radio Notes


  1. 1010 WINS
  2. WCBS-FM with Sue O'Neill
  3. WBGO - Bob Porter
  4. WEBE (Wesport, CT) with Bob Gilmore
  5. WRNJ (Hackettstown, NJ) - The Rest of the Week with Rich Appel
  6. Pop Gold Radio (Don Tandler)
  7. Rewound Radio
  8. WNSH
  9. WKPN (Bridgeport, CT) Larry Stoler interviewed Michael Harrison
  10. WCBS-FM with Al Bernstein
  11. WFUV with Don McGee
  12. Cousin Brucie on SiriusXM 60s on 6
And what else did I do today?

1. Played basketball with Lee ( a little cold weather doesn't bother him)
2. Went to Macy's to do a little shopping
3. Watched last night's Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune on tape
4. Went out with Karen for a belated Valentine's Day dinner

New Jersey Devils 5 Philadelphia Flyers 3

Karen and Lee met me after work last night at the Prudential Center.  Lee especially likes to watch hockey and was thrilled when the lockout ended in January.  We were sitting in a section with a lot of Flyers fans since Philadelphia is less than 100 miles away from Newark.  The Devils scored at the 40 second mark, but the Flyers scored three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead after the first period.  The Devils tied it up in the second period and took the lead in the third.  There were only two penalties in the game.

Game Recap

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Congratulations to Rita Houston on Your Promotion to Program Director of WFUV


When I received an e-mail from WFUV that Rita Houston was promoted to Program Director at WFUV.  Alan Berman is always on the ball with radio news also sent me the announcement from All Access.  Rita came to WFUV in 1994 as a mid-day host.  This was about the time I started to listen to the station after I read the listing for a Bob Dylan day in the New York Times.  Rita moved up to Music Director before today's announcement.

It must be very hard to be in Rita's position since the music at WFUV is so eclectic.  It is never limited to one genre of music so when a listener tunes in he/she never knows what will come up.  I listen to a multitude of radio stations, but I always find time to listen to WFUV and support them financially every year.  When I listen to WFUV there is always the chance that I will hear Bob Dylan or one of his folk rock contemporaries.  Chuck Singleton and the powers that be made a good choice.  I hope that Corny O'Connell will get the morning slot permanently.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Tribute to Levon Helm at the Grammys

There was a nice tribute to Levon Helm at the Grammy Awards on Sunday featuring Elton John, Mavis Staples and others singing The Weight.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

The Snowstorm of February 2013


I was allowed to leave work at 1 PM yesterday in anticipation of the snowstorm.  When I left Newark it was sleeting, but later in the afternoon it turned to snow.  Thankfully there were no mass transit delays on the way home.

When I looked out the window this morning there appeared to be only 6 inches of snow on the ground.  NY1 news reported an accumulation of 6.4 inches at JFK Airport and 12 inches at LaGuardia.  Eastern Long Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts got the brunt of the storm with accumulations of up to 3 feet.

Since I live in an apartment building I don’t have to worry about shoveling snow. Later on I will have to look by my garage to see if  I have to move some of the snow away from the door.  We will be taking a walk to the local multiplex after 12 noon to see Bullet to the Head with Sylvester Stallone.

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Smooth Jazz Returns to the NYC FM Dial on 102.7 HD2

From 1988-2007 WQCD at 101.9 FM aired the smooth jazz format.  I always enjoyed it as a change of pace.  In 2007 WQCD changed its format to alternative rock and changed its calls to WRXP.  The powers that be in radioland felt that smooth jazz listeners were aging out of the highly desirable 25-54 demographic.  For a while I was able to listen to it on 101.9 HD2.  When 101.9 was sold and became WFAN-FM, the HD2 channel was removed.  Just today CBS radio placed smooth jazz on 102.7 HD2.  That is good for me, but there are so few HD radios out there.  Smooth jazz is also hear on the SiriusXM Watercolors channel.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Google Me The Movie

As a reference librarian I have likely used Google thousands of time to find academic and popular information.  Of course I have Googled my name Bruce Slutsky umpteen times.  When I do that I find thousands of references to my blog entries, and work related web sites.  My name is not very common, but I did find out that a Bruce David Thomas from Milwaukee who was arrested in 1997 assumed my name.

A few nights ago I picked up my Kindle Fire and looked for a movie and discovered Google Me produced by Los Angeles documentary maker Jim Killeen who has a relatively common name.  In the film Jim Googles people with his name.  He found several people with his name and was willing to travel around the world to meet them.  He actually found 24 Jim Killeens and actually met several of them.  His encounters with them were very positive.  Toward the end of the movie, he brings all of his namesakes to  meet each other in Killeen, Texas.

I enjoyed this movie very much and recommend it to Google addicts and Luddites who would not touch a computer with a 10 foot poll.  I was not even aware of this movie when it was first released in 2007. However, I will not travel to Milwaukee to meet the other Bruce Slutsky.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Perfect Superbowl Song - Beware of Darkness by George Harrison

This video was done at the Concert for Bangladesh in August 1971.  Who thought the lights would go out at the Superbowl.


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Unexpected Surprise at the Movies Today - Dylan and Cash Perfect Together

It was a cold day and I was tired from running around all week, so we decided to take a short walk to the local multiplex and saw  Silver Linings Playbook.  During the film we heard Girl of the North Country sung by Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan.  This version makes the father and son very happy while Mom is an interested by bystander.  Check out Bruce's Journal for March 28, 2012 for Lee's 24th birthday.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Remembering the Ed Koch Years (1978-1989)


We heard the bad news today that former Mayor Ed Koch died at age 88.  Certain much will be said and written about his controversial and colorful 3 terms as mayor.  I must give him credit for being active until his final days.  This journal entry will be devoted to recalling my life during his 12 years in office.

When he first took office in January 1978 I was living in New London, CT since I worked at Pfizer in nearby Groton.  I recall that during his campaign people thought he was gay since he was in his 50s and never married.  I remember reading that a friend of his said he was so involved in politics, that he just had no time or desire to chase women.  In September 1978 I returned to NYC to seek a career in library and information science.  Some of the significant events in my life during the Koch years:

1979 - 1982 - Worked at Schering Plough Corporation

1980 - Met Karen

1983 - Married Karen

1983-1990 - Worked at the New York Public Library at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street

1988 - Lee was born

In the late 1980s Ed Koch spoke in Bryant Park when I worked at NYPL.  He came out in the audience and shook hands with people including me.  I had read two books either by Ed Koch or about him.


Koch, E., & Rauch, W. (1984). Mayor. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Browne, A., Collins, D., & Goodwin, M. (1985). I, Koch: A decidedly unauthorized biography of the mayor of New York City, Edward I. Koch. New York: Dodd, Mead.


Ed Koch will be missed by all New Yorkers as  he certainly made an indelible mark on the Big Apple.  He was active politically until the very end.

A few years ago the Queensboro Bridge aka the 59th Street Bridge was renamed the Koch-Queensboro Bridge.  In honor of Mayor Koch here is the 59th Street Bridge Song by Simon and Garfunkel.



 
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