Oy Vey - Another Birthday

I think I am going to stop counting.  Thank you, Mr. Met, Superman, Karen, Lee and the Facebook friends who wished me a happy birthday.

LXIX

Rego Park Revisited 2018

Back in June 2013, I wrote a very detailed journal entry on my walking tour of Rego Park, Queens where I grew up.  I passed by most of the places that I visited back then.  The only difference is that this year I crossed Woodhaven Blvd and walked through a park at the corner of Woodhaven and Queens Blvds where I used to play ball with my friends from the neighborhood.  I walked a little farther and noted that the site of the Elmwood Theater is now a church.

I didn't run into any former classmates as I did in 2013.  The only big change was that several stores on the south side of Queens Blvd at 65th Road were demolished.  Apparently, a large apartment building will be constructed there.  My Bar Mitzvah reception in 1962 was held at a restaurant at that site called Le Flamboyan.  It later became a furniture store, and eventually a men's clothing store.  Now it is completely gone.

Museum of Jewish Heritage A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

Today I visited the Museum of Jewish Heritage located in lower Manhattan just north of Battery Park.  I was pleasantly surprised at the scope of the exhibits and the building's architecture. A film in the rotunda introduces the Jewish experience in a montage of images to educate visitors of all religions and ethnicities.

Level 1 demonstrates Jewish life from 1880-1930 before the Holocaust.  It shows Jewish family life and the traditions that are carried on from one generation to the next.

The exhibits in level two details in chronological order the war against the Jews from 1930-45.  It shows how the Nazis came to power and that they wanted to kill all Jews in Europe.  There are displays of life in the ghettos, the fight to preserve humanity and Jewish heritage, and the world response to the Holocaust.

Level Three labeled as Jewish Renewal: 1945-present  shows how the Jewish recovered from the Holocaust after World War II.  It considers the founding of the state of Israel and how the survivors were resettled.

I highly recommend all of my readers visit this museum.

Fixing the Old Car or Buying a Newer One

On Sunday afternoon the Check Engine Light came on again.  When this happened in December it turned out the car needed an oxygen sensor which cost about $250.  I decided to go to AutoZone who advertises they will do the scan for free.  It turns out that I need a catalytic converter which will cost $550.  I have a 2000 Chevy Cavalier with only 66,600 miles.  I only use it for local driving so I decided to fix it.  I bought this car brand new in 2000 for about $15,000.  When the time comes I would buy a similar car 2-3 years old with about 30,000 miles.  I did a little window shopping on Carfax today and noted that it would cost $10,000-$12,000.

I guess for now it is cheaper to keep the old one.  I just hope I don't encounter large repair bills.

Who Reads Bruce's Journal and Why Do They Read It?

I get statistics on the number of hits this journal gets from Blogger and Google Analytics . The latter also tells me the city of the reader.  However, these services present conflicting data with Blogger reporting higher numbers.  Last summer Google Analytics did not report my visits from Houston.  I assume that most of the hits are from Facebook or Google searches.

Why do people read my "nonsense"?  Are they interested in Bob Dylan, the Mets, museums, radio stations, oldies music, Jeopardy or any of my interests?  A few people on Facebook mentioned that they enjoy reading this blog.  A few times I tried to survey my readers using Google Forms or Survey Monkey but there were few responses.

If you would like, please comment below or send me an email.

National Museum of the American Indian

It is either a museum or a movie for my these days, so today I visited the National Museum of the American Indian in lower Manhattan near Battery Park.  Since this museum is run by the federal government, there was no admission charge.  The security was very tight as I had to go through a sensitive metal detector as if I was in an airport.

The museum featured Indian art from all over the Western hemisphere.  These displays were broken down geographically.  There was also a section devoted to Indians using light and sound in their art.

After I completed my viewing of the exhibits I took a short walk to the Staten Island ferry terminal.  I also sat around Battery part for a while and looked out on New York Harbor.

Viewing Radio Seminars about WCBS-FM and WNEW-FM at the Paley Center

It seems that I have been going to the Paley Center about once a week since I retired.  Today  I viewed two radio seminars that were held at the museum years ago.

The first one discussed the state of oldies radio in 2003.  Even back then WCBS-FM was playing less music from the 1950s and early 1960s.  The following radio personalities spoke and answered questions from the audience:

• Bill Brown (now deceased)
• Joe McCoy  - then the Program Director
• Bob Shannon
• Don K. Reed
• Norm N. Nite

Nobody even imagined the flip to the dreaded Jack format two years later.

The second seminar held in 1997 considered freeform radio as it began in 1967 when WNEW-FM adopted that format.  The following radio personalities spoke and fielded questions from the audience:

• Pete Fornatale (now deceased)
• Dave Herman (now deceased)
• Rosko (now deceased)
• Scott Muni (now deceased)
• Zacherle (now deceased)
• Vin Scelsa
• Dennis Elsas
• Jonathan Schwartz