There are Very Short Acceleration Lanes on the Northern State Parkway

Most of my transportation complaints about subways and commuter railways can be find in my alternative blog.  I have a complaint about the Northern State Parkway in Nassau County.  My mother now lives in the Amber Court Assisted Living Facility on Brush Hollow Road in Westbury.  When I go home from there I have to enter the parkway where there is a very short acceleration lane.  Very often I have to come to a dead stop and then try to get onto to the parkway.  This can be a difficult maneuver.  Don't engineers know how to design a highway?

Remembering the Summer of 1974

Bob Radil tonight will be featuring the music of the summer of 1974 tonight.  Back in those days I listened to WABC which had a very tight playlist.  Some of the big hits of that summer were:

  1. Rock the Boat - The Hues Corporation (RCA)      
  2. You Make Me Feel Brand New - The Stylistics (Avco)        
  3. Billy, Don't Be a Hero - Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods (ABC)
  4. Rock Your Baby - George McCrae (T.K.)                      
  5. Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot (Reprise)                      
  6. The Streak - Ray Stevens (Barnaby)                        
  7. Band On the Run - Paul McCartney & Wings (Apple)          
  8. Be Thankful For What You Got - William deVaughn (Roxbury)

I am sure that Bob will feature many of the rarities of that summer that were not played on WABC.  Anyway when I hear the music of a specific time period, I go back and think of what I was doing at that time.  Many of the entries of this Journal are autobiographical.  In 2008 I detailed my time in New Brunswick, NJ from May 1974 - December 1976.  In this entry I'll focus on the Summer of 1974.

In the Spring after several months of job hunting I landed my first professional job at a chemical company called Rhodia which was the American division of a French chemical company called Rhone-Poulenc. It was involved in the manufacture of fragance chemicals. Some of my co-workers (I am only giving their first names) were Jack, Lou, Richard, Alexandra, Marshall, Karin and Joe.  It was dificult making the transition to industry as I had spent my entire life as a student.   In the previous journal entry I discussed my social life at that time.  In June 1974 I went on singles weekend at a dude ranch in upstate New York.  I also remember a Jewish singles group at the YMHA in Highland Park.  During that summer I lived at 9 Hartwell Street until the fall when I moved into a high rise building called the Colony House.

I found out that Rhodia abandoned the New Brunswick plant in 2000.  A few years ago Rhodia was bought out by a chemical company named Solvay.

I guess I will be thinking of the events of that summer as Bob plays the music.

Mets 10 A's 1 as Bartolo Colon Beats Scott Kazmir

Back in 2004 the Mets sent Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano in one of the worst trades in their history.  Although Bartolo Colon was 18-6 for the A's last year, he was not re-signed and hooked with the Mets as a free agent. Last night Colon got revenge by beating his former team as Kazmir pitched in Queens for the first time.

The Mets socked 4 home runs last night.  There were rumors that Chris Young would be released, but he hit two homers.  Curtis Granderson and Travis d'Arnaud also hit home runs. I wish as I was at this game as most of the games I attended this year were boring.

Box Score

Jersey Boys on Broadway and on the Big Screen

It has been 6 years since we saw Jersey Boys on Broadway .I remember that we paid $100/ticket and sat in the very last row, but I enjoyed it thoroughly.  It has been very successful venture as many juke box musicals have failed.  The show is still running, but this weekend the movie version directed by Clint Eastwood was released.  Certainly a movie is not the same as a live show, but I enjoyed it very much.  I only had to pay the senior citizen price of $10.25 :)

Orioles 6 Yankees 1

The only time I root against the Yankees is when they play against the Mets.  Even though I root for the Mets I like to visit Yankee Stadium a few teams a season.  Before today's game Tino Martinez was honored with a plaque in Monument Park.  Since tomorrow is Old Timers Day several of his teammates were there to honor hi
The Yankee starting rotation has been decimated by injuries and Sabathia, Pineda, and Nova are on the disabled list.  Thus Vidal Nuno was the starting pitcher today.  He did not fair well as he gave up home runs to Adam Jones, Steve Pearce and Nelson Cruz.  He was relieved by Jose Ramirez who gave up a home run to J.J. Hardy.  Yankee fans in the outfield seats emulated Chicago Cub fans by throwing the home run ball back on the field.  Mark Teixeira hit a homer for the Bronx Bombers.

Selfie of Yours Truly with a Yankee Cap

Box Score

Remembering the Summer of 1964

Right now on Bob Radil is featuring music from the summer of 1964 on his 60s 70s show on Rewound Radio.  Of course this opens up my memories of that summer at Wel-Met at Narrowsburg, NY in the Catskills. I was in Pioneer Camp for 15 year olds.  I was in Tent H with a tall counselor named Steve who looked like Abraham Lincoln.  My fellow campers in that tent were Doug Kaye, Dave Karp, Stan Rowan, Jeff Oster and Howie Levine.  I remember they took the campers on a trip to Scranton, PA to "see poverty".  We also went to Stratford, CTto see the Shakespearian play Richard III.  Beatlemania was still around that summer.  I remember a few of us had transistor radios which could only pull in WABC with its very tight playlist.  Certainly Bob Radil is playing a lot of songs we didn't hear on the radio that summer.

In Memory of Gerry Goffin who passed away at 75

In January Karen and I saw the broadway musical Beautiful which discussed the personal and professional relationship between  songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin.  Today we heard the sad news the Gerry Goffin passed away at age 75.  In his memory I am featuring one of their big hits of the early 60s Up on the Roof by the Drifters.