17th Anniversary of the Passing of George Harrison

All Things Must Pass is one of my favorite George Harrison songs as it has inspired me many times over the years.  He passed away on November 29, 2001, but his music will live on forever.

My Second Visit to the Museum of the City of New York in 2018

According to my records, I visited this museum in February, but there were some new exhibits that were of interest to me:

• Germ City - explores the complex story of New York’s long battle against infectious disease—a fight involving government, urban planners, medical professionals, businesses, and activists.  I thought it was it little too simplistic and more suited for youngsters.  The museum was not crowded today and I didn't see even one group of students.
• Through a Different Lens: Photographs of Stanley Kubrick.   This exhibition featured photographs Kubrick did for Look Magazine from 1946-51 before he became a film director.
• Interior Lives -  Contemporary Photographs of Chinese New Yorkers
• A City for Corduroy - photographs of the stuffed bear who has entertained children for years.

Some Comments about Bruce's Journal

I have kept this journal going for over 13 years with over 3600 posts.  I do keep track of the hits with Blogger and Google Analytics.  Recently, the number of hits have gone down, but there are a few significant posts.  Recently they have been:

• The passing of Randy Safuto of Randy and the Rainbows
• The Closing of the Shalimar Diner

Most people find Bruce's Journal from a link in Facebook or through a Google search.  I suspect that most hits are very casual as readers just look at the post for a few seconds and then move on.

I am now very careful about what to write here since anyone on the Internet can read.  I learned from a few mistakes I made in the past.  I try not to get too personal and don't discuss family or health issues.

Thanks for reading.

Girl from the North Country at the Public Theater - The Play and the Music Just Didn't Fit

I finally got to see Girl From the North Country several months after reading about the British production in Isis, a Dylan Fanzine from the UK.  I bought the CD by the British cast which included the music, but no dialog or indication of the storyline.  Girl From the North Country is a very romantic song that first appeared on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963.  A duet with Dylan and Johnny Cash was done on 1969's Nashville Skyline.  I thus presumed that this would be a romantic play.

The play takes place in a seedy boarding house in Duluth, Minnesota (Dylan's birthplace) in 1934 which is 7 years before his birth and at least 25 years before any of his songs were written.  The play considers the predicaments of the boarders.  The choice of Dylan's songs to me doesn't reflect the script of the play.  Some of the segues are very awkward.  Dylan's biggest hit "Like a Rolling Stone" which is very bitter leads into "Make You Feel My Love" a romantic song popularized by Garth Brooks.  The cast dances to "You Ain't Going Nowhere" which bought me back to Roger McGuinn's singalong at his recent concert at Town Hall.  There was a boxer named Joe Scott who sang "Hurricane", but Ruben Carter's saga didn't happen for another 40 years.  The last song was "Forever Young" that seemed to unite everyone.

Conor McPherson, the director, and writer is described as perhaps the finest English playwright of his generation.  Dylan's music and lyrics are always open to interpretation and obviously, those songs affected Mr. McPherson different than they did me.

This review was written by a retired Chemistry/Chemical engineering librarian who has become a devoted patron of the arts in his old age.  I am listing a few more professional reviews:

• New York Times
• Variety - Reviewer Marilyn Stasio agrees that many of the songs are a poor fit for the setting.

We had terrific seats in the second row.  Above is a photo that I took before the show of the piano used.

Bob Dylan Appears on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

 

Bob Dylan Covers Drake's Hotline Bling

Bob Dylan plugs his Heaven's Door Whiskey with Jimmy Fallon

Before I went to sleep last night I read a Facebook post stating that Bob Dylan would appear on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.  I couldn't verify it anywhere so I assumed it was "Fake News".  this morning I found out he was on the show.  Above are two videos of his appearance.

Random Thoughts on Thanksgiving

There was nothing out of the ordinary for this Thanksgiving except for the bitterly cold weather.  It shouldn't be 22 degrees in November.

Nothing much was said in the media about the 55th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination. Most people today were not yet born in 1963.

We will likely see the film Creed II at the local multiplex tomorrow.  I am not interested in shopping on Black Friday.

On Saturday afternoon we will be seeing Girl From the North Country at the Public Theater while the Bob Dylan concert for us will be on Saturday December 1.

The Velvet Underground Experience in Greenwich Village

I have certainly listened to oldies and classic rock for many years but didn't know that much about the Velvet Underground.  I found out about the Velvet Underground Experience from a Twitter follower, @phungo2008 who is Paul Ember, a software engineering and baseball fan.  I attended his talk titled The Warhol Triple Play: Maris, Seaver, and Rose at the SABR convention in Pittsburgh in June.  He informed me of this exhibition from a tweet.

I reported in yesterday's journal entry of my research into the Velvet Underground in preparation for today's visit.  The exhibit included films produced exclusively for this exhibition, portraits of each of the band members, hundreds of photos contributed by lenders and collectors, and a small room documenting Andy Warhol's relationship to the group.  I took more time to examine items devoted to Lou Reed. who was also a solo performer after the group split.

I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibition as I took 3 hours to look at everything.  I highly recommend it.