Movie Theaters, The Films They Show and The Prices They Charge

People who read my Facebook account must know that I frequent the College Point Multiplex which is within walking distance of my home.  Since it opened in May 1999 we probably have gone there about 40 times a year for a total of about 700 visits.  Every time we go they add points to my account so I can get a free soda, free popcorn or free admission.  The only problem for me is that most movies they show appeal to a young audience.  I understand that they are trying to make a profit, but I wish 1 of their of their 12 screens be used for independent films.  The bargain matinee price (before 2 PM) and senior citizen price are $11.75.  On Tuesdays, everybody gets in for $8.50 while seniors pay $7.50 on Wednesday.  All too many times I walk out of that complex annoyed that I paid for a film that is just not for me, but it is so close to home.

Today I went to the AMC Bay Terrace which is a 10-minute drive away.  Most of the movies there are the same as the College Point Multiplex, but today I saw The Shape of Water.  The senior citizen price is $11.79.  I could have saved money by staying close to home, but I wanted to see that film which was nominated for several academy awards.  A few weeks ago I took a subway ride to the Kaufman Astoria complex to see the highly acclaimed The Darkest Hour.  This is another good film not shown at the College Point Multiplex.

My favorite theater is the Kew Gardens Cinemas that specializes in independent and foreign movies.  The only problem is that parking in that neighboorhood is bad.  Sunday is the best day to go there.  I think their standard price is $8.50.  A couple of times a year I go over there.

Now that I have more time, I'll have to travel to Manhattan to see movies not shown in Queens.

Former Governor Chris Christie Will Be a Contributor to ABC News

NJ.com reports that Chris Christie will become a contributor to ABC News.  I think if Chris Christie does for ABC News what he did for the state of New Jersey, their ratings will go down.  I may be tempted to throw garbage at the TV set if I see him.

Meeting of the Casey Stengel Chapter of SABR at NYPL Today

Every year on the last Saturday of January the local chapters of SABR hold a meeting.  This is the fourth time that I have attended this meeting at the New York Public Library.  Previously, it was held at the Mid-Manhattan Library, but since it is being renovated it was moved to the Celeste Auditorium of the Stephen Schwartzman Building (Central Research).  This was the second time in less than a week that I returned to my employer from 1983-1990.

Moe Resner who recently wrote a book about the Chicago Cubs told the story of how he threw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field. I just found the Youtube video of it.

Virginia Bartow, a librarian at NYPL, gave a brief talk on the baseball resources in the library and how to find them.  The digital resources can be accessed remotely, while one must come to the library to read the print books.  She also discussed some of the rare materials such as the Spalding Baseball Collection.  She started at NYPL in 1988 when I was there.  Her name was familiar, but I was not acquainted with her.

Radio host and author Ed Randall moderated a panel discussion on the state of the game.  the panelists were:

• Phil Cuzzi - Major League umpire since 1991
• Tom Giordano - a 92-year young gentleman considered a legendary baseball scout
• Art Shamsky - from the 1969 World Champion New York Mets.  Karen, Lee and I met him at Beatlefest 2014 where we took a picture of him.

I'll just mention a few of the comments made.

• The length of games is increasing because the batters constantly get out of the box.  Replay has also increased the time of games.
• Since the implementation of replay, there have been less vehement arguments with umpires
• Art Shamsky is writing a book for the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Mets

Tyler Kepner, a baseball writer for the New York Times, gave his biography stating that he is from Philadelphia and was a sportswriter in several cities before landing at the Times.  He has been the beat writer for the Mets and Yankees and is well-respected.  He answered many questions from the audience.

Baseball historian Jon Springer spoke about Edward Sylvester Nolan who played for the 1884 Wilmington Quicksteps.  He is writing a book about that team titled Once Upon a Team.

Diane Firstman completed the day by discussing the relationships among walks, strikeouts, and home runs and how the statistics have changed over the years.

Visited the Museum of the Moving Image Today

The Museum of the Moving Image has been located in Astoria, Queens for many years but today was the first time that I visited it.  It emphasizes the devices used to generate moving images rather than programming.  Moving images include motion pictures, television, and even video games.  I was surprised to see an area of operating video games that were popular in the 80s and 90s.

They showed older TVs, TV Cameras, and the older manually operated devices to see very primitive motion pictures.  I was impressed with a display with numerous camera views that covered a Mets game on SNY.  There were also many photos of TV and movie actors from the early days.  I was disappointed that the area featuring Jim Henson was closed for today, but there were screenings of several Muppet Shows including Paul Simon, Pearl Bailey, and Raquel Welch.  There were some screens that showed clips of old movies and TV series.

I Tried Listening to Talk Radio, but Still Don't Like It

I was never a fan of talk radio, but since I am home more often now I thought I would try listening again.  At times I do listen to sports radio on WFAN, but usually, no more than 20 minutes as the callers often repeat themselves.  For the next 2 weeks, everyone will give their opinion about who is going to win the Superbowl.  Yesterday someone referred to one team as the Philadelphia Pigeons.  I sometimes listen to Michael Kay, Don LaGreca, and Peter Rosenberg on ESPN Radio at 98.7 FM.  Too often, they get off on tangents and discuss issues not related to sports.

Yesterday, I sampled Rush Limbaugh on WOR who spent much time talking about the different models of the iPhone and how Apple wants people to keep buying the latest model with all the bells and whistles.  I think that should be discussed on a business talk station like WBBR.  He then went on defending Donald Trump.  So what else is new.  I then turned to WABC and sampled Curtis Sliwa and Dominic Carter.  They were talking Amazon want to open up a new headquarter which could be situated in  New York City or Newark.  They felt that the operations would be almost completely automated and that few new jobs would be created.

I think I will stick to listening to music on the radio.

New York Public Library Revisited

I worked at the New York Public Library Science and Technology Division from 1983-1990.  That division was located in Room 121 in the famous building at 5th Avenue and 42nd Street now known as the Schwartzman Building.  I visited a few times in the early 1990s shortly after I left, but I hadn't been there for at least 25 years.

I wanted to do some research so I looked up the following books in their online catalog:

Thornley, Stew. 2000. Land of the Giants: New York's Polo Grounds. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

McGee, Bob. 2005. The greatest ballpark ever: Ebbets Field and the story of the Brooklyn Dodgers. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press

The Research Library is non-circulating so all books must be read there.  For now, I was more interested in Stew Thornley's book since I have contacted him through SABR and it was not available in a circulating library.  The McGee book is available through the Queens Library.

Sometimes, procedures don't change over the years.  It is still necessary to fill out a call slip and wait for the book to be retrieved from the stacks.  When I submitted the two requests, the clerk said that it would take about 30 minutes to get it.  It actually took 45 minutes.  I can understand that since there are literally miles of book stacks at NYPL and it must take time to retrieve the items and send it to the reading room.  I still remember that I had to cope with irate patrons who were very impatient about getting their materials.

I spent over two hours with Stew's book on the Polo Grounds and was glad that I found the information I was looking for about that stadium.  I glanced at the Ebbets Field book since I can get a circulating copy from the Queens Library.

The reading room was quite busy, but most of the people were using their own laptops and not accessing the library's resources.  One of the roles of a library is to provide a quiet study space, but NYPL provides access to resources not available at other public libraries.

After I finished my research I took a tour of the building to see how it had changed over the past 25 years,  There was a snack bar near the 5th Avenue entrance.  Room 121 housed the Milstein Division (local history and genealogy) since the Science Division moved to Madison Avenue and 34th Street in 1994 and renamed SIBL (Science Industry and Business Library).

I concluded my day by viewing the exhibit Peace Love and Revolution at the Library.  I offered many artifacts from the 1960s including a board with album covers from 1960s artists including Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and many others.  Visitors could press a button to hear various 1960s hits.

It was certainly a productive day.

Big Ten Basketball at MSG Today

Since NBA basketball is very expensive we try to go to several college games every season.  This afternoon we went to Madison Square Garden to see Ohio State play Minnesota in a Big Ten Doubleheader.  At night Minnesota played Michigan State in hockey.

Minnesota jumped out to a 20-10 lead but Ohio State dominated the rest of the way and won 67-49.  They are now 8-0 in conference play and are tied with Purdue for the top spot.

Game Recap