Bob Dylan at Jones Beach but not on the Video Screens

 

The concert, part of the Outlaw Festival, began at 4 PM, but we left home at 4 PM and didn't care about the opening acts.  We arrived in time to see Wilco.  Bob Dylan and his band took the stage at 

about 8 PM.  There are always video screens at large concert venues.  They were turned on for Wilco and Willie Nelson, but not during Dylan's set.  During the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, when Dylan was the only act, concert goers were required to place their cell phones in Yondr Pouches so they could not take photos or make recordings.  Since Dylan doesn't want photos taken, he instructed the venue to turn off the video screens during his set.

Two concert reviews.

Wantagh, New York Northwell at Jones Beach Theater August 1, 2025

1.	Gotta Serve Somebody (Bob on piano)
2.	I Can Tell (Bob on piano) (song by Samuel Smith)
3.	Forgetful Heart (Bob on piano)
4.	Axe and the Wind (Bob on piano) (song by George "Wild Child" Butler)
5.	To Ramona (Bob on piano and harp)
6.	Early Roman Kings (Bob on piano)
7.	Under The Red Sky (Bob on piano and harp)
8.	I'll Make It All Up To You (Bob on piano) (song by Charlie Rich)
9.	All Along The Watchtower (Bob on piano)
10.	'Til I Fell In Love With You (Bob on piano)
11.	Desolation Row (Bob on piano and harp)
12.	Love Sick (Bob on piano)
13.	Share Your Love With Me (Bob on piano) (song by Alfred Braggs and Deadric Malone)
14.	Blind Willie McTell (Bob on piano)
15.	Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on piano)
16.	Searching for A Soldier's Grave (Bob on piano) (song by Jim Anglin)
17.	Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (Bob on piano and harp)

Ain't That Good News by Sam Cooke - Oldie of the Day

 

All we see and read in the news is bad news:

• Shooting in Mid-Manhattan
• Death and famine in Gaza
• The War in Ukraine
• Tariffs
• Donald Trump
• The incompetent people whom he appointed
• Jeffrey Epstein (he should rot in hell as far as I'm concerned)
• The murders of 4 students in Idaho (the media should finally put this story away)
• A contentious mayoral race in NYC ( I will not vote for an inexperienced legislator)

It is nice to hear about some good news even if it is fictional.

I Can't Listen to Sounds of the 60s Online Any Longer on BBC Radio 2

 

Sounds of the 60s has been discussed many times in Bruce's Journal.  It is heard Saturday from 6 AM - 8 AM in the UK, which corresponds to 1 AM - 3 AM in NYC.  For many years, I listened to a podcast on Sundays. BBC Sounds is now only available to audiences in the UK.  Radio 2 can still be streamed, but it appears that podcasts of Sounds of the 60s are gone.

Over the years, the show was hosted by distinguished radio personalities including:

• Brian Matthew
• Tim Rice
• Johnny Walker
• Tony Blackburn

Oh, well.  I'll have to listen to something else on Sunday mornings.

Partial Transcripts from Some Recent Chats with Younger Women

 

I don't sense any malicious intent from the younger women who chatted with me online.  I don't understand why they communicate for a day or so and then disappear (ghosting).  I realize that even if I wanted to, I couldn't date these women since they are from afar.

• You are my best friend
• Age is just a number
• I hope my message didn't bother you. Interestingly, you always appear in my friend recommendation list. I'm curious, do we know each other?
• I saw you show up in my friend suggestions and couldn't help but get a little curious, so I decided to add you. I hope I didn't bother you - if I did, please forgive me!
• Oh really? I can't believe my eyes. You're 76 years old and you look so young. You look more like 50
• Are you Larry, the manager of the auto repair shop? (they get the wrong person and then want to chat with me anyway.)
• You know, its really nice chatting with you. If I get the chance, I'd love to get to know you better. (But then they abruptly end the chat in a day or so)
• Bruce, sorry again for sending the wrong number. I’d really like to chat with you, but this is my business account, so we can’t talk for long here. At this point, the chat moves to her personal Telegram account.

The only "consequence" is the waste of time spent on these chats.

I shouldn't start any of these chats knowing they will eventually come to an end.

Out of Sight Out of Mind Strikes Again

 

In the mid-1990s when I got my first computer, I was active with an online service known as Prodigy.  I frequently accessed message boards for enthusiasts of oldies radio.  I met JB over there, who lived in the Washington, DC area and was a law student at the time.  We communicated electronically, and later met each other as I visited suburban Maryland and he attended lawyers' meetings in Manhattan.  He even attended a few of the oldies meet-and-greets that we had at Ben's Deli in Manhattan.

I saw him for the last time about a year ago when we had lunch together at Mr. Broadway's, a glatt kosher restaurant that took over Ben's Deli's location on West 37th Street. After I phoned him about a month ago, he did not return my call.  A week later, I tried again with the same result.

I don't sense any hard feelings between us, but it just seems a matter of out of sight, out of mind, superseding staying connected.  Once people stop seeing each other with any degree of regularity, they lose contact with each other.  I've faced this before.

NYC cyclists see tenfold increase in criminal summonses under NYPD push

 

Union Street near 28th Avenue in Flushing

Around the corner from my home

I am happy to read in the Gothamist that the NYPD is issuing more summonses to cyclists who violate the law. There is a very wide sidewalk on Union Street between 28th Avenue and 31st Road.  Cyclists regularly ride there even though there is a bike path on the street.  They often whiz by pedestrians.  I understand that there cannot be a policeman on every street.  I hope that more cyclists riding on the sidewalk will be given summonses.

Where Rock Lived - A WNEW-FM Documentary Will Be Released in 2026

 

WNEW-FM is best known as an influential progressive rock station that began in 1967 and continued into the 1990s. There is a website that describes this documentary produced by Tony Monte and others that will not be released until 2026, so we will have to be patient.

There is a radio station today with the calls WNEW at 102.7 FM, but it is not the same.  It is owned by Audacy with a format labeled as Hot AC.