Mets beat Reds 4-0 last night

Johann Santana, Pedro Feliciano, and Francisco Rodriguez combined to shut out the Cincinati Reds 4-0 at Citifield. New Met Jeff Francoeur drove in two runs for the Mets in the first inning. The hitting was not overpowering but enough to win as the Mets raised their record to 41-45. There is still plenty of time left and hopefully the injured players will return to make the Mets competitive in the weak National League East.

Box Score

Good Luck John Choe and John Liu

Yesterday the family went to a birthday party for John Choe (lower photo) a community activist who is running for City Council in our district in Queens. He has been active for a number of years in the Mitchell-Linden Civic Association in our neighborhood. He is running a grass roots campaign for office. He has worked very hard for his neighbors.

John Liu (upper photo) is the current councilman for our district and is now running for City Comptroller. He has done a good job and disserves to advance to a higher position in government.

There will be a primary on September 15 for both of them to gain the Democratic party nomination for their respective offices. The general election is in November.

Some Comments on Reconnecting with People from the Past

Since I have been on the internet in the mid 1990s, I have reconnected with several people from my past. It has been easier to find old "friends" through Facebook and make "friends" with them again. Some comments:

• I have avoided contacting people who were close friends years ago. I am thinking of two people from my CCNY days. I found their e-mail addresses, but never contacted them.
• I never reconnected with any of the girls I dated. I did find two of them on Facebook
• Most of my reconnections were with casual acquaintances back then.
• Most of my reconnections were very brief. I exchanged a few e-mails and then the contact just died out. I can think of one person from high school (he may still read this journal) with whom I reconnected online and have maintained contact for several years.
• I have been friends with Roy for 42 years since we graduated from high school. He is on e-mail, but almost all of my contact with him has been through the telephone.

Fire on the Throgs Neck Bridge Snarls Traffic in Queens Today

As I ate my breakfast this morning I heard on the radio news reports that a fire overnight on the Throgs Neck Bridge necessitated its closing. Details.

When I am off work on Fridays I like to go to a park walk around and read. When I left my house at about 10 AM I noticed the traffic was heavy on the Whitestone Expressway since it had to be used as alternative to Throgs Neck Bridge. I decided to use side streets to Chrocheron Park. When I got there I walked along the Cross Island Parkway which was jammed until I reached Fort Totten where I could see the Throgs Neck Bridge. I actually saw a section of it that was charred from the fire.

At 4 PM I heard that the bridge was open Queens bound, but closed Bronx bound. Thankfully I was not stuck in the traffic.

Analyzing My Facebook Friends

I believe that it was about 3 years ago when I got started with Facebook. I attended a librarians conference at Princeton University when Shannon Kealey (a Facebook friend) gave a talk on how it can be used as an outreach tool for students. A short time later I tried to make friends with many NJIT students to promote the library. It didn't work well in that area, but it succeeded in reinforcing acquaintances that I already had. In order to raise my number of friends I contacted several people with the surname Slutsky. Most of them made friends with me even though I was not related to any of them. In 3 years I have made 438 friends. There is no point in trying to attain a big list. It is really the quality that counts. Anyway I thought I would make a statistical analyis of my Facebook friends. Hmm... maybe I should try to publish a paper on this. Nah! Here goes:

New York Librarians - 37 8.4%
New Jersey Librarians - 23 5.3 %
NJIT Colleagues - 48 11.0%
American Chemical Society Colleagues - 30 6.8%
Other Librarians - 21 4.8%
Radio enthusiasts - 99 22.6%
Family - 9 2.0%
NJIT Students - 110 25.1%
People from my past - 14 3.2%
Other Slutskys 13 0.2%
Bob Dylan Enthusiasts 1 0.2%
Others - 31 7.1%


Anyway, I really should "de-friend" many of the NJIT students whom I don't know especially if they have graduated. I should get on some Bob Dylan Facebook groups and make friends there.

Check out this video interview of Cousin Bruce

http://www.babyboomers.tv/content/cousin-brucie

I am not interviewing him :)

When the Media Exaggerates the News

It is certainly very sad when a major entertainer passes away at a young age. I will certain not repeat here what has been said in the media about Michael Jackson or the circumstances of his untimely death. No entertainer has universal appeal. No person whether a celebrity or an "ordinary joe" has a pristine life story.

I must object to the extraordinary media coverage given today as the Michael Jackson funeral is in progress as I am writing this entry on my lunch hour. All of the major broadcast and cable tv outlets are covering his memorial service at the Staples Center in LA. I remember in November 1963 when the entire world stopped to watch the funeral of John F. Kennedy. The death of a popular yet controversial entertainer can not be equated. I just don't feel his funeral deserves this unversal media coverage.

I am especially disappointed that a local outlet New York 1 has chosen to cover the ceremony. I have always enjoyed their news coverage since they always emphasized New York City news that was meaningful. I even sent them an e-mail criticizing them for their coverage of this event. I doubt if they will respond.

Does the media report or create the news?