Combination Bob Dylan/Baseball Vacation in Tulsa in July

 

I made the flight and hotel arrangements through Expedia today.  Since there is no direct flight from Laguardia Airport to Tulsa, we will have to make connections in Dallas.  I booked a hotel just two blocks away from the Bob Dylan Center which has been discussed in several May entries in this journal.  I found out that there is a minor league team called the Tulsa Oilers that plays in a stadium near the hotel.  We had seen minor league games on previous vacations in Nashville and Memphis.  If time permits, I will visit other attractions in the city such as the Cain Auditorium, Gilcrease Museum, and Woody Guthrie Center.

Eduardo Escobar Hits for the Cycle for the Mets

 

For my readers who are not baseball fans, a cycle is when a player hits a single, double, triple, and home run in the same game.  It is a relatively rare feat as Wikipedia reports it has only been done 336 times in the history of Major League Baseball. As I was sleeping Eduardo Escobar accomplished it for the New York Mets.  The game in San Diego started at 9:30 PM and I went to sleep at 11:00 PM so I missed it. Scott Hairston was the last New York Met to do it in 2012.  The Mets won 11-5.

Yankees 5 Tigers 4 in 10 Innings

 

Even though I am a big Met fan, I like to go to Yankee Stadium a few times a year.  I am not a Yankee hater and only root against them in the Subway Series.  It was a nice day, and I could get tickets in Section 420A behind home plate from StubHub at a reasonable price.

Jordan Montgomery started the game for the Bronx Bombers against Rony Garcia for the Tigers.  The Tigers took an early 2-0 lead that was erased by a two-run home run by Joey Gallo.  The score was tied 4-4 at 9 innings.  Aaron Judge was the "ghost runner" on second base in the 10th inning and advanced to third base on an infield single by Anthony Rizzo.  Judge scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Josh Donaldson.

The Yankees are now 39-15 which is the best record at 54 games since the Seattle Mariner in 2001.  The Mets also won 5-4 in 10 innings today.  Is there a Subway Series coming in October?

Game Recap

Zoom Conferences - Live vs Archived

 

Right now I am virtually attending Dylan and the Beats, a conference from the University of Tulsa.  If I attended the conference, I would entail traveling expenses including airfare, hotel, and food which is likely very high. By attending the online version, I am only spending $40.

I just cannot spend three days being tethered to my computer watching the various sessions.  I attended a few sessions live, but since the weather today is fantastic, I just have to spend some time outdoors.  Thus, I missed a few sessions.  I have plans for tomorrow, so I just will not be able to attend the conference.

The organizers are recording each session and will make them available to attendees.  This makes it more convenient for me so I can view the missed sessions in the future at my convenience.

The Jim Irsay Collection was On Display at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC

 

Jim Irsay is best known for being the owner of the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL.  He assembled a robust collection of historic and culturally significant artifacts over several decades.  This collection was on display at the Hammerstein Ballroom which is on 34th Street just west of 8th Avenue.  One nice thing was that there was no admission charge.  I used my cell phone camera to take photos of some of the exhibits.

John F. Kennedy's Rocking Chair

Jim Irsay's collection of guitars was the most popular exhibit.

Johnny Cash's Guitar

Bob Dylan's 1965 guitar (upper center)

There were two pianos of interest

John Lennon's Piano

Elton John's piano

Tomas Nido is the Hitting Star as the Mets Beat the Nationals 5-0

 Since I am retired, it is easy to go to mid-week afternoon games at Citi Field.  Everything is going their way as they completed a perfect homestand and are now 35-17 and lead the National League East by over 10 games despite losing their best two pitchers to injury.  They have now won 5 consecutive games.

Carlos Carrasco started the game and pitched 5 shutout innings with his father in the stands.  Catcher Tomas Nido hit 4 for 4 and dove in 3 runs.  Francisco Lindor extended his RBI streak to 10 games, matching Hall of Famer Mike Piazza for the second-longest in franchise history.

Now the Mets must go to the west coast to play the Dodgers, Padres, and Angels.  It is a long season and you never know when any team can go into a losing streak,

Recap

I Encountered a Cyber Panhandler on Twitter

 In the 15 years that I have been on Twitter I have tweeted about 9000 times which includes references to this journal and random comments.  I am following 1371 people while 418 follow me.  Most of these people share an interest with me, but occasionally I will follow unknown people.

A few days ago, a young lady whom I will call BM followed me.  I don't know her at all, but just for the heck of it I followed her back.  She started a chat with me and stated she was 34 years old and a single mother with a 5-year-old daughter.  I told her that I was 73 years old, but she said the age difference didn't matter to her.  The chat was pleasant for a while, but all of a sudden she said her refrigerator was empty and she asked me for money to buy food.

I don't know if this story is true, but appears that she follows people on Twitter, is friendly to them, and then asks for money.  I will not send her any money as it seems likely that she has done this to many of her Twitter followers.  I am calling this "Cyber Panhandling."  I guess there are all kinds of cyber citizens, and we must be careful as we surf the web.