Visit to the New York Historical Society Museum

Since I retired at the beginning of the year I have become a regular patron of the cultural venues of New York City.  Today, I visited the New York Historical Society Museum & Library at Central Park West and 77th Street.

I was attracted to this museum today by the gallery featuring the photographs of George Kalinsky, the official photographer of Madison Square Garden.  I saw photos of the 1970 champion New York Knicks, Rangers, Yankees, and Mets.  Non-sports photographs were also shown.

Another exhibit showed the civil rights initiatives of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy in the 1950s and 60s.

A major exhibition traced the history of the Vietnam War from 1945 to 1975 which was a sad chapter in  American History.  It brought back bad memories of the military draft and the deep divisions the conflict created between those who supported and opposed American involvement.

The other current exhibits are listed at http://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/current-exhibitions

It was certainly an enjoyable day.

Happy Birthday Johnny Cash

Today would have been the 86th birthday of Johnny Cash who is very popular in the Slutsky household.  It is hard to believe that it is over 14 years since he passed away.  He left us a very big body of music.  Ring of Fire is one of my favorites.

Seton Hall 81 St. John's 74 in OT at Madison Square Garden

St. John' plays about 4 basketball games every season at Madison Square Garden, so today we decided to go to see them play Big East rival, Seton Hall.  The game was very close as neither team led by more than 6 points.  At the end of regulation, the score was tied at 70.

However, Seton Hall pulled ahead in the overtime period and won the game 81-74.  Khadeen Carrington scored 22 including 6 in overtime to lead the visitors to victory.

Game recap

Eric Alexander Quartet at Flushing Town Hall

Since Flushing Town Hall is within walking distance of home, we had gone to many concerts there on weekends over the years.  Very often there were good concerts on Friday nights that were reasonably priced, but I was just too tired to go after a long week at work.  Since I am now retired, I am much more refreshed on Friday nights. 

Last night we attended a jazz concert with the Eric Alexander Quartet.  The musicians were:

• Eric Alexander - saxophone
• Harold Mabern - piano
• John Webber - bass
• Joe Farnsworth  drum

The concert was very enjoyable.

First Spring Training Game Today

It didn't matter that the Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2 in Port St. Lucie. It just meant that since spring training games have just started, the regular season can't be too far away.  This year opening day is early on March 29.  Hopefully, it won't be cold that day.   New manager Micky Callaway let the pitchers go only one for one inning.  Both established Mets and rookies not likely to make the team appeared in today's game.  If there are no major injuries, the Amazins should be competitive this season.  At this point we can only hope for the best.

Serendipity at the Paley Center Finding Art Fleming's Jeopardy Among Other Things

Today I went to the Paley Center with Karen and Lee without anything specific in mind.  Karen was interested in the Moody Blues.  A search yielded an appearance on the Tom Jones Show in 1969.  Lee was interested in Johnny Cash so we found some of his performances from 1958.  I did a search on Bob Dylan and found an appearance in 1979 on Saturday Night Live where he sang Gotta Serve Somebody.

Just for the heck of it I searched under Jeopardy and found two episodes from the 1970s featuring Art Fleming with Don Pardo as the announcer.  The amounts for each question were much lower back then, and the second and third place finishers could keep their winnings.  If I remember correctly Art Fleming was the host from 1964-79.  The Alex Trebek version started in 1984 and is still going strong.

Bob Dylan Cover of the Day - Dark Eyes by Dawn Landes & Bonnie "Prince" Billy

I was listening to Bob Dylan Tracks this morning and Dan Murphy played Dark Eyes by Dawn Landes & Bonnie "Prince" Billy.  I actually have this CD called "A Tribute to 80s Dylan."  I also remember seeing Dylan in concert at the Beacon Theater where he sang Dark Eyes with Patti Smith.