Why I Enjoy Cousin Bruce Morrow's Show on XM/Sirius

For a few years I was able to get the music channels of XM Radio through my AOL subscription. About 6 months ago this arrangement ended, but I was offered XM online for $2.99/month for 6 months and then $7.99/month. I have resisted the temptation to buy a radio. When WCBS-FM was hijacked in June 2005 Cousin Bruce came to Sirius Satellite radio. Since the XM/Sirius merger was consummated I have been able to get his show online. He is heard on the 60s channel on Saturday Nights from 8 PM till Midnight and the 50s channel on Wednesdays from 5 PM - 9 PM. I believe these shows are repeated. I enjoy his show for the following reasons:

1. He is always friendly in interactions with listeners. Whenever I have met him in person, he was friendly to the people in the audience.
2. He takes requests from his listeners. He play what we want.
3. The playlists on his show are a good blend of familiar hits (even burnouts) and relatively obscure records.

Cousin Bruce is a mensch. His show has become my first choice for radio listening on Saturday Nights. He really seems to enjoy his gig at XM/Sirius since he is not bound to a tight playlist as he was on terrestrial radio. For those readers of my journal who are not radio enthusiasts, his Wikipedia entry provides a good biography.

Queens College Basketball Today

We decided to go to Queens College which is a 10 minute ride to see Queens College play St. Thomas Aquinas. Queens lost 63-62. they could have tied the game with 2 seconds to go but they missed a foul shot. Divison II basketball may not be the best quality, but you can't get entertainment for $5/ticket anywhere else.

I guess the Saturday Night Oldies diehards would be ashamed of me for missing most of the show. I am not thrilled about hearing repeats of interviews, so I listened for a while and then watched the game. I am now listening to Cousin Bruce Morrow on XM/Sirius.

From the Facebook Profile of a Camera Shy Man

There are some people that are just camera shy. I have only seen two photos of him on the web in all the time I have known him. What is this contraption that this man uses as his Facebook profile?

Spotlight on David McMillan

The gentleman in this photo is David McMillan, now a librarian at Caldwell College. I first met Dave in Spring 2001 when he worked as a temporary librarian at NJIT. I am disappointed that my esteemed boss didn't hire you for a permanent position. I am glad that things have worked out for you and wish the the best in your career and personal endeavors.

Since you told me you have read this journal, you must know I am a radio enthusiast. But did you know that our mutual friends Anthony Grimaldi and Mike Byrnes associated you with a famous radio personality? I going to make you guess which one it is from the one's below:

• Bill O'Reilly
• Bob Grant
• Mark Simone
• Rush Limbaugh
• Dan Taylor
• Jonathan Schwartz

You get only one guess, Dave.

Bill O'Reilly - Strong Roman Catholic Values

Since I have a long commute from Flush to Newark, I have time to read on the trains. It is ideal to read a book at long periods of time, but for me this is impossible. At times, I can only read 10 pages of a book and then have to put it down. Anyway, when I go to the small public library in my neighborhood, I don't even touch a computer and just browse the shelves for a current book. A week or so ago I picked up Bill O'Reilly's biography as seen above. I consider myself an apolitical person and rarely if ever watch Bill on the Fox News Channel. You can find more out about Bill O'Reilly by reading Dave DuBrow's World Journal File.

On the front cover you can see young Bill reading a prayer book while on the back cover he is seen with Sister Mary Lurana who was his teacher at St. Brigid's School in Westbury, Long Island. Bill later attended Marist College. He traces his journalistic career and constantly refers to his Catholic upbringing from his parents and his teachers. He projects his sense of humor throughout the book which is a relatively easy read. He does not use scholarly language, but does not insult his readers either. I have about 50 pages to go which I might not finish until Saturday. Since I am working late tomorrow, I bring my Radio/CD player on the trains. Friday is my Sports Illustrated day, so I may not get to Bill's book until Saturday. Dave will likely review the book in either his World Journal File or his new personal journal.

Who is your friend on Facebook

Social networking has become very popular over the past few years among people of all ages. I attended a conference where a librarian talked about how she used Facebook to develop relationships with students. She mentioned that it works better to reinforce friendships that you already have rather than creating new friends. When it began Facebook was available only to academics. One had to have a .edu e-mail to join, but that changed to allow everyone to join. I made friends with many NJIT students even though I did not "know" them. Yesterday a student asked to see me and as you approached my office she seemed impressed that I knew who she was. I did say I made friends with her through Facebook. I also made friends with several of my students from Freshman Seminar.

Over the last 3 years I have made "friends" with

• NJIT colleagues
• NJIT students
• College friends (from 40 years ago)
• High school classmates (from over 40 years ago)
• Radio enthusiasts
• Bob Dylan fans
• Mets fans
• Colleagues from other universities
• Relatives
• People with the surname Slutsky, even though we are not related
• People I don't even know. Other people take the expression "friend" literally.

I have about 350 Facebook "friends" many I don't even know

I have found out some interesting facts about people:

• Mark and Richard who are librarians at other New Jersey universities are also Bob Dylan fans.
• Joe, my beer drinking buddy from CCNY is still a big Mets fan even though he moved to California years ago. He is also a radio enthusiast
• My nephew, a student at SUNY Oswego attended a Bob Dylan concert there
• The librarian who spoke about Facebook is dating one of my NJIT colleagues
• My colleague at an upstate New York university had a baby recently
• A former NJIT colleague was recently granted tenure at another university

We all must be careful about what we write on Facebook since anyone can see what was written. People do have minor conflicts all the time. I think it is quite immature to de-friend a person after a difference of opinion about something. This has happened to me a few times.

Required Reading for Nudnicks

I wonder if my favorite nudnick still reads this journal.